TWO ATTACKS ON AMERICA

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WE VERY MUCH APPRECIATE your response to our

editorial last week, and we reconfirm our promise to continue

to remind the Christian church in America of our responsibility

to obey Jesus' charge to us to become salt and light for the

world in which we live. Our unique message blends politics

and religion -- or as we quoted Randy Thompson last week,

to "attach might to right." As Christians, what we believe is

right; now we must bring the might of our American privilege

of the vote to accomplish what is is right for our nation.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

TWO ATTACKS ON AMERICA ON AMERICAN

SOIL REMAIN VERY MUCH AS TOPICS

FOR OUR CONCERN THIS WEEK

In fairly recent memory there have been four attacks on

our nation by our enemies on American soil. Pearl Harbor

in 1941 was probably the most successful surprise attack

in the history of warfare, but it was avenged and settled in

our defeat of Japan in 1945. But it was on the Hawaiian

Islands and not on mainland USA. In more recent years there

were three attacks by Muslim terrorists -- the bombing of the

World Trade Center in 1993 ... the widespread attacks of

9/11 and now the wanton killing of soldiers and civilians at

the US Army base, Fort Hood in Texas.

We are very much aware of those attacks, even though the

present administration has banned the use of the word or

concept of "terrorist" attacks under the theory of "Political

Correctness," calling them instead man caused disasters."

And as investigations begin into the Fort Hood attack by a

Muslim follower of Islam, who calls himself a "Soldier of

Allah," and who shouted the Islamic battle-cry, "Allahu

akbar" (Allah or God is great, Allah being the name for their

God in that pagan religion), a vagueness on the part of the

Obama administration is very evident.

In his first comments on the Fort Hood attack, Mr. Obama

described the violence as "incomprehensible," referred to it

as "twisted logic," called it "too hard to comprehend," and

labeled it a "tragedy," never admitting it was an enemy attack.

The Obama administration seems to be suffering a serious

failure of comprehension. We might ask, "What is so hard

to comprehend?" A Muslim jihadist shouted "Allahu akbar"

and began shooting, murdering 13 and wounding 29.

Syndicated columnist Ralph Peters well summarized the

situation in these words: "On Thursday afternoon, a

radicalized Muslim US Army officer shouting, 'Allahu

akbar!' committed the worst act of terror on American soil

since 9/11. And no one wants to call it an act of terror or

associate it with Islam. What cowards we are. Political

correctness killed those patriotic Americans at Fort Hood

as surely as the Islamist gunman did. And the media treat

it like a case of nondenominational shoplifting. This was a

terrorist act. When an extremist plans and executes a

murderous plot against our unarmed soldiers to protest our

efforts to counter Islamist fanatics, it's an act of terror."

But perhaps the most reprehensible comment came from

Lt. Gen George W. Casey, Jr., the Chief of Staff of the US

Army, who saw the attack as endangering the liberal concept

of "political correctness." His actual words were: "What

happened at Fort Hood was a tragedy, but I believe it

would be an even greater tragedy if our diversity becomes

a casualty here." Others have labeled this as a despicable

thing for any army officer to say, and is an insult to the

memory of the more than forty dead and wounded in this

planned and premeditated attack on the United States of

America by a Muslim terrorist obeying the same religious

convictions which underlaid the prior attack of 9/11.

For American Christians the warning is clear. Even

though Mr. Obama has declared that America is no longer a

Christian nation, and lauds the great accomplishments by

the Muslims who represent less than 1% of the population

of the US, it is a fact that Muslims are becoming a force in

previously Christian Europe -- even Great Britain -- and

Christians are foremost among their enemies as unbelievers,

or "infidels" as the Quran labels us. And the Quran is clear

in its teaching that infidels are to be treated most harshly,

even killed ... for example, consider these few citations from

the Quran about the treatment of infidels: 2:191 - "And slay

them wherever ye catch them " ... 5:33 - "The punishment

of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger

... is: execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands

and feet from opposite sides, or exile from the land..." 8:12

- "I will instill terror into the hearts of the unbelievers:

smite ye above their necks and smite all their finger-tips

off them"...9:23 - "O ye who believe! take not for protectors

your fathers and your brothers if they love infidelity above

Faith: if any of you do so, they do wrong" ... 9:29 -"Fight

those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold

that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and

His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth" ...

9:39 - "Unless ye go forth, (for Jihad) He will punish you

with a grievous penalty..." 8:17 - "It is not ye who slew

them; it was Allah."

This is the "religion of peace;" this is the religion we are

being asked to accommodate ourselves to their practices and

life styles. In addition to the military wars in which we are

engaged as a nation, we are also in a spiritual war, and one

aspect of the enemy is clearly evident in the quotations cited

above. As pointed out in last week's ANC, we Evangelical

Christians have the potential of 75 million votes, and if we

are to fulfill our God-directed purpose here in America, we

must utilize the civil power we have. Keep in mind Election

Day, November 2, 2010.

And looking back to the attack of 9/11, it was announced

this past week that the Obama administration has decided to

try the mastermind of the attack, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed,

in civil court in New York City. By this unilateral decision,

Obama has reduced the 9/11 Act of War upon America to a

law enforcement issue. This is contrary to his own statement

on the floor of the US Senate on September 27, 2006 during

the debate on the Military Commissions Act of 2006, where

he said that Khalid would face a "full military trial with all

the bells and whistles" and declared that "justice will be

carried out in his case." Once again he has gone back on

his own word, and by so-doing will give a Muslim terrorist

mastermind the same full legal and civil rights that American

citizens enjoy! And that means high priced lawyers, which

we will pay for with our tax dollars, probably involving the

best legal minds the ACLU can come up with. And in this

transforming the 9/11 attack into a civil crime, the Obama

administration is ignoring the fact that the Pentagon, our

primary military headquarters, was attacked, with massive

property damage and nearly 200 fatalities, of which 55 were

military officers. Doesn't that sound like a military attack?

How can this be considered a "civil crime" as our Attorney

General Eric Holder labels it?

Our president has had a busy week by any standard.

This present trip to Asia gives Mr. Obama another

presidential record -- the most foreign countries visited by a

president in his first year. This trip will make it 20 countries

he has visited already this year. The former record holder,

George H. W. Bush, had 14 countries during his first year in

office. George W. Bush went to 11 countries in his first year,

but Bill Clinton visited only 3 countries in that same period.

During this first visit to Asia, apparently in an attempt to

reassure allies and rivals, President Obama billed himself as

"America's first Pacific president," promising the nations

of Asia a new era of engagement with the world, based on

mutual interests and mutual respect. And we thought he

was "America's first Middle East president," after all his

speeches degrading America and bragging on Muslim

achievements in their world.

And Mr. Obama did another one of his bowing things to

show respect for Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress

Michiko, going to an extreme even by Japanese standards.

His deep bow and several smaller ones, totally out of

protocol, brought back the memory of his humble bow to

Saudi King Abdullah, which the Washington Times called

a "shocking display of fealty to a foreign potentate." Thus

he strengthens his hold on the title "First US President Ever

to Bow to a Foreign Ruler." He has already sewed up sole

possession of "Groveler in Chief." He has so much to learn.

Some interesting comments we noted this week:

From Thomas Segel: "It started out as a mild virus

initiated by the left-of-center intellectuals of academia.

But, like computer viruses or influenza, it spread rapidly

through schools, hospitals, civil service, the media,

companies, governance, and the armed forces. Political

correctness has poisoned all of America."

From Behshad Hastibakhsh: "To millions of people around

the world, Barak Obama is the messiah, a visionary with

the message of ‘hope' and ‘change', whose mere image

portrays a new America in the quest for peace. Barack

Obama may possess John F. Kennedy's youthful ambition

and Ronald Reagan's communication skills, but his foreign

policy doctrine bears a striking resemblance to Neville

Chamberlain's appeasement policy towards Nazi Germany."

From Robert Ringer: "There's no question that BHO and

The Boys have bigger responsibilities - like, for example,

fundamentally changing a democratic republic into a

socialist police state."

We heard you; you like the "one liners." Here they are:

"To think that Barack Obama, the leader of the Democratic

Party, the most corrupt political organization in Western

history, would lecture the President of Afghanistan on the

merits of clean government and honest elections is just ...

incomprehensible." (Paul R. Hollrah)

"I'm afraid Congress has not only misread the Constitution,

but they've also misjudged the American people. Or maybe

they just don't know what country they live in." (Jon N. Hall)

"Who says nothing is impossible? Some people do it every

day!" (Alfred E. Neuman of MAD Magazine)

"A government that decides who lives and who dies is no

longer a government of the people and by the people. And

it’s certainly not a government for the people."

(Chuck Colson)

"As a candidate, Barack Obama vowed to 'finish the fight

against al Qaeda and the Taliban.' But our troops can't

finish what the president won't start."

(Editorial, New York Post)

We never fail to cite quotes from our Founding Fathers

because they remind us what they intended this nation to be.

Consider these from our nation's second president.

"We ought to consider what is the end of government before

we determine which is the best form. Upon this point all

speculative politicians will agree that the happiness of

society is the end of government, as all divines and moral

philosophers will agree that the happiness of the individual

is the end of man....All sober inquirers after truth, ancient

and modern, pagan and Christian, have declared that the

happiness of man, as well as his dignity, consists in virtue."

-- John Adams, 1776

"We have no government armed with power capable of

contending with human passions unbridled by morality

and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry,

would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a

whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made

only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly

inadequate to the government of any other."

-- John Adams, 1798

LAST WEEK'S MID-TERM ELECTIONS

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LAST WEEK'S MID-TERM ELECTIONS OPENED

THE DOOR TO EXAMINE WHERE WE STAND

TEN MONTHS INTO OBAMA'S FIRST TERM

And it brought back a suggestion from more than a century

ago. Since 1872 Lewis Carroll's delightful story, "Through

the Looking Glass," has charmed generations of children

with its accounts of Alice wandering through Wonderland.

An important part of the story is the reciting of the poem,

"The Walrus and the Carpenter," including these thought

provoking lines: "The time has come, the Walrus said, to

speak of many things; of shoes ... and ships ... and sealing-

wax ... of cabbages and kings ..." In this year 2009 the time

has come "to speak of many things."

And perhaps the first "thing" to consider is the state of

American opinion, after 10 months of the Obama first term.

One way to do that is to review some of the most recent

national polls. Doing that at random produces some very

evident trends.

First, from a Gallup poll in mid-October, the president's

55% personal approval rating is higher than that reported

by other polls, most of which are closer to 50 percent.

However, it marks a major decline from Gallup's 78 percent

when Obama took office. One significant fact is that he has

lost ground with every group except liberal Democrats. It

becomes obvious that he has turned far to the left.

According to the latest Rasmussen Reports survey, 52%

of voters feel that America's best days are in the past. This

marks the highest level of voter pessimism in two years and

is up 13 points from when Obama was elected president.

Only 35% feel the nation's best days are still to come, down

13 points since his inauguration in January. Also from the

latest Rasmussen Reports, 58% of likely voters say it is at

least somewhat likely the next president of the United States

will be a Republican. That number has trended up by 14

points since he took office in January.

And from the economy standpoint, this fact is prominent,

that since Barack Obama was elected President he has

already increased our national debt at record levels by an

astounding $1,168,395,397,482 - higher than all the debt

combined over the previous 200 years of American history.

Consider also this one of those "things" - as Christians, we

are certainly not happy with the direction President Obama

and his administration is taking our nation. Yet in the election

of 2008, we are the ones who elected him. Of Born Again

Evangelicals, 26% voted for Democrats. Of Protestants,

overall, 45% voted for Democrats. Of Catholics, 64% voted

Democratic. And of Jews, 78% voted Democratic. (From

Pew Forum reports.) Should we rethink our voting in the 2010

and 2012 elections? Seems like a reasonable approach.

And what is the religious makeup of America which Obama

says is no longer a Christian nation? From 2007 Pew Forum

reports: Christian, 78.4%; Jewish, 1.7%; Muslim, 0.6%; of

Unaffiliated, 16.1% (Atheist 1.6%). And that other segment

of our population to which the Obama administration pays

such homage: 2.8% of males, and 1.4% of females claim to

be gay, lesbian or bisexual. Should we who represent such

a huge majority plan to vote for a new Congress in the 2010

elections, and begin to change the direction in which our

country is being moved? Seems like a reasonable approach.

But until the 2010 elections, instead of ridiculing and insulting

the present Obama administration and the present Congress

with jokes and cartoons, wouldn't it make more sense to

begin using the Capitol switchboard and start telling our

elected representatives how we want them to vote? Question:

have you ever made such a call, even once in the last year?

That phone number once again: 1-202-240-3121.

Remember: some of the promises (threats) Obama made in

his election campaign have not yet been accomplished --

the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, and the enactment

of the Freedom of Choice Act, for example. And the

Senate hasn't yet finalized their version of the so-called

Health Insurance Reform bill. The Pelosi directed version

squeaked by in the House, but a final potentially disastrous

bill has not yet been settled. There is still time to tell your

two Senators how you want them to vote.

There is an old (but true) saying: "Figures don't lie, but

liars can figure." Last week we commented on VP Joe

Biden's manipulating the results of the billions of dollars

of "stimulus" money so as to indicate that 540,000 new

jobs had been created -- a figure that he rounded off at a

million. But now the actual employment figures have been

released, and the national unemployment rate has climbed

from 9.8% just a month ago to 10.2% for October and

with more than 15 million unemployed. That is the highest

unemployment rate since 1983 when President Reagan was

handed a 10.1% rate from Jimmy Carter.The "real" rate

of our unemployed is said to be 17.5% when those who

have given up seeking work are included in the calculations.

This is, of course, a bit different from the administration's

promised 8% top unemployment rate after their "stimulus"

funds had taken effect. One wonders if it will ever occur to

our leaders in Washington that what they are doing isn't

working, and may actually be damaging our economy?

The disastrous attack on Fort Hood, which we can't call

a "terrorist" attack because Obama's head of Homeland

Security, Janet Napolitano, has forbidden the use of that

word in favor of "man-caused disasters." Her exact words

on March 16, 2009 in an interview with Der Spiegel: "In my

speech, although I did not use the word "terrorism," I

referred to "man-caused" disasters. That is perhaps only

a nuance, but it demonstrates that we want to move away

from the politics of fear ..." It's strange. When a Muslim

suicide bomber in Iraq or Afghanistan shouts "Allahu Akbar!"

(Allah is Great) and explodes his vehicle killing 4 - 7 - 9 or

more innocent people, that is accepted as a terrorist attack.

But when a Muslim member of the American armed forces

shouts "Allahu Akbar!" and kills 13 innocent people and

wounds 29 others, our president says we must not jump to

any hasty conclusion. His words: “We cannot fully know

what leads a man to do such a thing.” Apparently he sees

some sort of difference between what Muslims are doing

overseas and what this Muslim did right here in America.

Can he not understand that this is the same war and this is

the same enemy we are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan?

At least it appears that Senator Joe Lieberman is planning to

order an intensive investigation, and not allow this attack to

be white-washed by "political correctness" into the oblivion

of a Muslim member of our armed forces made to feel

"uncomfortable" by others who did not like what Muslim

terrorists did on 9/11 and what they are doing in so many

parts of the world today. Senator Lieberman is also taking

a rational stand on the health care reform bill.

There will be further discussions about this tragic attack,

but by way of summary, Joseph Farah said it well, as he so

often does: "America is still mourning the murders of 13

soldiers at Fort Hood in what can only be characterized

as a vicious slaughter by a jihadist terrorist ..." We cannot

fail to recall Lincoln's words at Gettysburg, "that this nation

shall have a new birth of freedom."

Considering the few "things" we have discussed, and

those we haven't touched on, what can a Christian do to

change the present situation? Perhaps our first action might

be to demonstrate our firm conviction that we must restore

the moral standards which once were the basis for the role

of the US government. The late Jerry Falwell used "Moral

Majority" to bring about a refocusing of our convictions on

the historic Judeo-Christian principles which made America

the great nation it had always been. One commentator said

last week: "Christ’s disciples are to be a moral disinfectant

in a world where moral standards are low, constantly

changing or nonexistent." That may be a concise statement

of the responsibility that is ours.

Do you enjoy statistics? Consider these: in the 2008 election,

Barack Obama had 69.5 million votes against John McCain's

59.9 million votes. Result: a majority of less than 10 million

votes. Born again Evangelicals represent 26% of today's US

population, or more than 75 million. Just pause and think, or

use your imagination: what would happen if the 75 million of

us started living -- and voting -- like members of the family of

God? Because that is what we are.

Don't worry, we're not about to give up "one liners."

“If the liberals in Washington have their way, they will

forever change the relationship between the government

and ‘we the people.’" (Congressman Mike Pence)

"It's not about the President personally...the President's

policies are unpopular." (Governor Haley Barbour )

"The real destroyer of the liberties of the people is he who

spreads among them bounties, donations and benefits."

(Plutarch, Greek historian, 46-120 A.D.)

"If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you

see what it costs when it's free!" (P.J.O'Rourke)

A most profound thought from a Founding Father:

"Government is instituted for the common good; for the

protection, safety, prosperity, and happiness of the people;

and not for profit, honor, or private interest of any one

man, family, or class of men; therefore, the people alone

have an incontestable, unalienable, and indefeasible right

to institute government; and to reform, alter, or totally

change the same, when their protection, safety, prosperity,

and happiness require it." -- John Adams, 1776

Or, as Abraham Lincoln expressed it:

"We, the people are the rightful masters of both Congress

and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution, but to

overthrow men who pervert the Constitution."

WHEN ARE WE GOING TO WAKE UP?

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TWO WEEKS AGO WE POSED THIS QUESTION:

"WHEN ARE WE GOING TO WAKE UP?"

WE NOW NEED TO ASK IT AGAIN

On Oct. 31, 2008, candidate Obama announced: We are

five days away from fundamentally transforming the United

States of America. Despite that open threat to our American

way of life, a threat to "fundamentally transform" everything

this nation has ever been or has ever believed in, somehow

we bought his campaign rhetoric and elected him. During the

past 10 months of his administration we have learned that we

cannot believe in much that he and his associates say -- but

in at least this one instance he spoke the truth. He has fulfilled

his threat; he has begun to "fundamentally transform" the

United States of America into a concept of government based

on historic principles of socialism, communism and the worst

aspects of Islam and Shariah Law.

Pause for a few moments and reflect on what has happened

in those 10 months.

Dr. Thomas Sowell, highly respected as a scholarly observer

and commentator on current events, is a true Black, from

both of his parents. Further, he exercises no secrecy with

respect to his academic achievements. After undergraduate

studies at Harvard (Magna Cum Laude), he did graduate

work at Columbia and earned his Ph.D. at the University of

Chicago. Last week he wrote a multi-part analysis titled

"Dismantling America -- Piece by Piece." Consider these

few excerpts from that commentary.

"Just one year ago, would you have believed that an unelected government official, not even a Cabinet member confirmed by the Senate but simply one of the many 'czars' appointed by the President, could arbitrarily cut the pay of executives in private businesses by 50 percent or 90 percent? "Did you think that another 'czar' would be talking about restricting talk radio? That there would be plans afloat to subsidize newspapers-- that is, to create a situation where some newspapers' survival would depend on the government liking what they publish? "Did you imagine that anyone would even be talking about having a panel of so-called 'experts' deciding who could and could not get life-saving medical treatments? ... How free would you feel to speak out against an administration that has the power to make life and death decisions about your loved ones? "Does any of this sound like America? "How about a federal agency giving school children material to enlist them on the side of the president? Merely being assigned to sing his praises in class is apparently not enough. "How much of America would be left if the federal government continued on this path? President Obama has already floated the idea of a national police force, something we have done without for more than two centuries. What would be the role of a national police force created by Barack Obama, with all its leaders appointed by him? It would seem more like the brown shirts of dictators than like anything American. "How far the President will go depends of course on how much resistance he meets. But the direction in which he is trying to go tells us more than all his rhetoric or media spin."

And that is only a small portion of the first installment of Dr.

Sowell's analysis. Does it tend to suggest that we need to

answer the question: "When are we going to wake up?"

For years Billy Graham preached across America,

stressing the fact that the family is the basic element of

American life. Destroy the family, and you destroy the

strength of America.

And that is one of the Obama plans which directly affects

American Christians. Among candidate Obama's promises

or threats was that he would repeal DOMA (the Defense of

Marriage Act) signed into law by Bill Clinton -- who now

aligns himself with Obama in support of the homosexual

minority. Not far off is the elimination of the God-given

concept of marriage, and in its place the legitimacy of same

sex couples living in contradiction to traditional Hebrew-

Christian principles which have always prevailed.

And another Obama promise/threat has been to enact FOCA

(the Freedom of Choice Act) removing any and all restraints

on abortion -- the murder of babies -- in direct contradiction

to God's law that "Thou shalt not kill."

Add to all that the new "Hate Crimes" law whereby ministers

of the Gospel may be charged with a criminal act if they were

to preach on a verse of Scripture in which God condemns

homosexuality as an abomination.

Just those few thoughts should be enough for us to say:

IT'S TIME TO WAKE UP, AMERICA!

This week's date reminder: As of today there are exactly

363 days to Election Day, November 2, 2010. On that day

we, as Christians, can take a major step toward reclaiming

America for God, and restore it to being the nation the

Founding Fathers intended it to be.

Yesterday's elections, highlighted by the Republican clean-

sweep wins in Virginia, and the governor's victory in New

Jersey, to any rational minded observer, are evidence of the

first obvious breaks in the Obama stranglehold on our nation.

And they are coupled with this week's Gallup report that at

this point in his presidency he has sunk to the lowest public

approval rating of any president since World War II. Of

course, he may find comfort in the fact that he still enjoys a

higher approval rating than Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, or

Congress, all of which are at abysmal lows. Let's keep our

focus on what we are going to do on November 2, 2010!

Interesting: you can't believe the Vice President, either.

Joe Biden, never adept in the use of the English language,

last week announced that the billions of dollar in stimulus

spending had created 640,000 new jobs . . . and then cooly

rounded it off to a million. Actually the "gain" was less than

the actual job loss figure for January, and sort of withers in

the face of total unemployed now at over 15 million, and

the national percentage figure of unemployed climbing ever

closer to 10%.

In the face of all these evil maneuvers, what are you going

to do? We have often given you the Capitol switchboard phone

number where you can reach any Senator or Representative. It

is: (202) 224-3121. Question: have you ever made one -- just

one -- phone call to tell your Senators or Representative how

you want them to vote? They represent you. They enjoy their

choice jobs because voters like us put them there. And the

other suggestion we have made is to pray for wisdom to be

given to President Obama to do what is right. Never forget

the admonition of the 19th century British philosopher and

author, Alfred, Lord Tennyson: More things are wrought

by prayer than this world dreams of.

You're right: everyone seems to enjoy the "one liners."

"He went to Copenhagen to seek the 2016 Olympic Games,

but will not attend the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin

Wall because there's no personal glory to be gained."

(Josh Greenberger)

"We are trying on every front to increase the role of

government in the regulatory area."

(Representative Barney Frank on MSNBC)

"I am nostalgic for the days when the American President

seemed to be fond of his country, and its people. This is

largely because I have increasing doubts that our current

President is fond of either one." (Austin Hill)

It is as if George Washington saw today's problems.

"Arbitrary power is most easily established on the ruins

of liberty abused to licentiousness." (1753)

"The consciousness of having discharged that duty which

we owe to our country is superior to all other considerations."

(1788)

"Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism."

(1796)

"The name of American, which belongs to you, in your

national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of

Patriotism, more than any appellation derived from local

discriminations." (1796)

- - - - - - - - - - - -

THE SCRIPTURES SPEAK OFTEN OF WAR

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THE SCRIPTURES SPEAK OFTEN
OF WAR, WARS AND WARFARE . . .
REAL AND RUMORED . . . AND OF
WARS BEING MADE TO CEASE


This nation, for so long acknowledged as a "Christian nation,"
today faces so many serious problems -- the health care
fiasco, our economy in the midst of total destruction, our
loss of respect on the international scene, our shift from
the historic principles which made us great, the yielding to
the homosexual minority, the complete and utter decline in
morality -- that the fact that we are at war on two fronts,
with other fronts in the offing almost escapes us in our
daily perusal of the news.

In the Bible war is spoken of as hostilities between cities,
states or even tribes on political or religious grounds. It is
also spoken of as the inner conflict between forces of good
and evil within an individual. For the Christian it is spoken
of as the daily struggle to maintain a spiritual life in the
midst of a wicked and profane environment.

It is also spoken of as one of the elements leading to the
return of our Lord. But in Psalm 46:9 the God of Jacob
is spoken of in these words, "He maketh wars to cease
unto the end of the earth ..." and He promises, "Be still
and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the
heathen, I will be exalted in the earth." And then the
Psalmist promises, "The Lord of hosts is with us; the
God of Jacob is our refuge."

Despite his exercise of temporal power, and his scheming
to "change" America, even President Obama cannot
prevail against our God.

The one war, as yet officially undeclared, is of Biblical
hostilities between Palestine and Israel, and in that conflict
the Obama administration and the United Nations have
cast Israel as the aggressors, and the Muslim forces of
Palestine as the people under attack. This is the war that
needs to be resolved, with God's plan and purpose for
His land kept foremost in our nation's actions.

In the two wars now in progress, we seem constantly
haunted by our fear of "another Vietnam." But we walked
away from that conflict without victory, and survived as a
nation. Russia walked away from failure in Afghanistan
and survived. Meantime, leaderless we await a long
overdue decision. Again we urge prayer for wisdom to
be given to President Obama to make the right decision.

A current day comment on war, from Bob Hebert,
writing in the New York Times: "The U.S. economy is in
free fall, the banking system is in a state of complete
collapse and Americans all across the country are
downsizing their standards of living. The nation as
we’ve known it is fading before our very eyes, but we’re
still pouring billions of dollars into wars in Afghanistan
and Iraq with missions we are still unable to define.
Even as the U.S. begins plans to reduce troop
commitments in Iraq, it is sending thousands of
additional troops into Afghanistan. The strategic
purpose of this escalation, as Defense Secretary Robert
Gates acknowledged, is not at all clear. We invaded
Afghanistan more than seven years ago. We don’t
even have an escalation strategy, much less an exit
strategy. An honest assessment of the situation ...
would lead inexorably to such terms as fiasco and
quagmire. Instead of cutting our losses, we appear to
be doubling down. As for Iraq, President Obama
announced last week that substantial troop
withdrawals will take place over the next year and a
half and that U.S. combat operations would cease by
the end of August 2010. But, he said, a large contingent
of American troops, perhaps as many as 50,000, would
still remain in Iraq for a “period of transition.” That’s
a large number of troops, and the cost of keeping them
there will be huge. I can easily imagine a scenario in
which Afghanistan and Iraq both heat up and the U.S.,
caught in an extended economic disaster at home,
undermines its fragile recovery efforts in the same way
that societies have undermined themselves since the
dawn of time -- with endless warfare."

There are ideological differences in the White House.
Conservative columnists Tony Perkins and Gary Bauer
commented last week on White House Communications
Director Anita Dunn's statement that she considers Mao
Tse-Tung and Mother Teresa as her "favorite political
philosophers." Hmmmmm. Aside from our wondering
how the Communications Director for Barack Obama
could consider a communist revolutionary, one of the
greatest mass murderers in all history, as one of her two
"favorite political philosophers," we also wonder how
as Obama's Communications Director she can handle
Mother Teresa's words as she received the Nobel Peace
Prize: "We are talking of peace...the greatest destroyer
of peace today is abortion, because it is a direct war, a
direct killing - direct murder by the mother herself."

Thus Dunn's "favorite political philosopher" has views
which are diametrically opposed to those of her boss, an
ardent supporter and promoter of abortion.

An exercise in date setting: Remember when you were
a child, and began counting how many days till Christmas?
Maybe it is time to start counting again -- but this time
keep a record of how many days to ELECTION DAY,
2010. Starting right now, today, there are exactly 370 days
to November 2, 2010. That can be the day we Christians
unite and replace the Obama-controlled Democrat Congress
with people who really represent us, and who will help
return this country to the moral, ethical, religious -- even
Christian -- country it once was. Mark that date!

Agreed -- we should not quit citing great "one liners."

"War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the
oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious.
It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars
and the losses in lives." (General Smedley D. Butler, USMCR)

"Three forces threaten Democrats in the 2010 elections: populist
anger on the right, disaffection in the middle and potential
disillusionment on the left." (Dan Balz, in The Washington Post)

"This isn't like four bad years of Jimmy Carter or even eight
years of Bill Clinton. This is the systematic transformation
of our nation from an open, capitalist society, to a Big
Brother-type, socialist nation." (David Horowitz)

Our Founding Fathers commented on current day life:

George Washington had this to say about the sexual
promiscuity that seems so prevalent today among our
entertainment personalities and prominent politicians:

"More permanent and genuine happiness is to be found
in the sequestered walks of connubial life than in the
giddy rounds of promiscuous pleasure."
-- George Washington, 1786

And this very pertinent word of advice: "Religion in a
Family is at once its brightest Ornament & its best
Security." --Samuel Adams, 1780

WHEN WILL WE WAKE UP?

`




AN URGENT TWO-FOLD QUESTION
FOR TODAY: FIRST, WHEN WILL HE
WAKE UP? SECOND, WHEN WILL WE
WAKE UP?

Sometimes a statement from an independent, outside observer says it
best. In Canada, our neighbor to the North, Howard Galganov is an
editorial writer, whose editorials appear in more than a score of
Canadian newspapers. Last week he wrote: "I'm going to make yet
another prediction: OBAMA WILL PROBABLY NOT FINISH HIS
4-YEAR TERM, at least not in a conventional way. He is such a political
HORROR-SHOW, and so detrimental to the USA and his own
Democratic Party, that the Democrats themselves will either FORCE
him to resign or figure out a way to have him thrown out."

Or within our own borders, syndicated columnist Sher Zieve just last
week offered this comment: "At this juncture, I think it safe to observe
that neither our Legislative nor Executive branches of government are
listening to We-the-People and have no intention of doing so now or
in the foreseeable future. Obama plans to destroy us as quickly and
completely as is possible."

Just those two examples, out of so many in similar vein, lead us to
today's first question, "When will he wake up?" With his approval
ratings falling through the floor, it is obvious that the American
people simply do not trust him. The polls are all uniform in this
report, although in slightly varying degrees. Gallup polls, for example,
placed him at an unsurpassed high of 83 in January ... and saw that
public approval fall to 52 in September. And although he experienced
a slight rebound to 56 last week, at the same time Hillary Clinton sur -
passed him in public approval at 62. Rasmussen polls have recorded
his fall from 65 to 47, while their daily index rating has become firmly
entrenched in negative territory, double digit at present.

But he shows no signs of waking-up ... he is still flying across country,
delivering the same teleprompter message, taking advantage of every
opportunity to get before TV cameras ... not seeming to understand
that he just isn't liked or trusted in America. The entrancement with
"Change you can believe in" has now worn off.

But that brings up the second question: "When will we wake up?"
There are probably some Christians who voted for Obama. Looking
back over the past 9 months, it is difficult to understand why. His
views of the Christian faith are totally anti-Christian. In his pep rally
speech to the homosexuals on the eve of their march on Washington,
he reassured them: "When you look back on these years,you will see
a time in which we as a nation finally recognized relationships
between two men or two women as just as real and admirable as
relationships between a man and a woman."

And he promised to end "Don't Ask; Don't Tell" in the armed services,
and promised to pass "hate crimes" legislation in their behalf, and to
repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. And he said this about Christians
who believe the Bible: "Despite the real gains that we've made, there's
still laws to change and there's still hearts to open. There are still
fellow citizens, perhaps neighbors, even loved ones - good and decent
people -- who hold fast to outworn arguments and old attitudes, And
that's painful and it's heartbreaking."

Obama's catering to the homosexuals would seem to be at odds with
the results of a Pew poll in August which found that 49% of American
adults feel that homosexuality is morally wrong; 9% find it morally
acceptable, and 35% do not find it a moral issue. During the past 8
years Gallup polls have found that 48 to 55% of American adults find
homosexuality to be morally wrong.

Another pressing issue on the president's agenda is whether he will
commit more troops to Afghanistan – the "good war." But first we
have to win the battle at home – the battle to convince Obama to learn
the right lessons from history and to heed the wise counsel of his own
generals. In the realm of international affairs, Mr. Obama is equally as
remiss as he is with respect to moral issues.

A few weeks ago, Obama attempted to "reset" relations with Russia,
and had given in to Russia by cancelling the missile defense shield in
Eastern Europe. It was his theory that the grateful Russians would
surely side with us and get tough on Iran. But Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton flew to Moscow last week to finalize how Russia would work
with us to impose real sanctions on Iran. But instead, she received a
warning from Russia's Putin for the US and the rest of the world not
to attempt to "intimidate" Iran, and added that talk of sanctions was
"premature." And beyond that, Obama has given Russia permission to
inspect our total nuclear armamanent; count our bombs, etc. Nice.

And so it appears that either with respect to moral issues or with
respect to dealings on the international scene, it is time that we -- the
Christian church of America -- should wake up, and involve ourselves
in reclaiming this nation to the moral and spiritual principles upon
which it was founded. And for a suggested date for that awakening:
Election Day, November 2, 2010.

The president's potential new pastor ... the Rev. Jeremiah Wright
is long gone ... the fond hopes of Rick Warren are now almost forgotten
inauguration day memories ... and the pastor the president hears
preach most often is Carey Cash (at Camp David), Johnny Cash's
great nephew, and a Southern Baptist who served in Iraq and holds
that Islam is a violent faith. He may be the most valuable element in
the Obama-sphere.

One feature we hate to give up: just these few choice "one liners:"

"Nothing is inevitable. For America today, decline is not a condition.
Decline is a choice. Decline-or continued ascendancy-is in our hands."
(Charles Krauthammer)

"The United States of America is the greatest, the noblest, and in its
original founding principles, the only moral country in the history
of the world (save Israel), and it is being led by an amoral radical."
(Pamela Geller)

And it doesn't seem right to ignore our Founding Fathers' ideals.

"We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon
the power of government, far from it. We've staked the future of all
our political institutions upon our capacity…to sustain ourselves
according to the Ten Commandments of God." -- James Madison, 1778

Not from a "Founding Father," but from a present day pastor:
"After hearing about the East African Revival while I was in Uganda
last week, I was convinced that this type of movement is the only
thing that will pull the United States out of its current despair. We
must have a spiritual awakening, or we die. Political engineering,
economic policies, government bailouts and stimulus packages will
not save us. No politician, Democrat or Republican, will reverse our
course toward destruction. Our only hope is that a backslidden
American church will be zealous and repent" -- Rev. J. Lee Grady

THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE HILARIOUS

`




WITHOUT GETTING TOO PERSONAL, there is this
bit of news which we would like to share with our readers,
whom we have come to think of as our friends. Just a few
days ago, our Senior Editor underwent eye surgery, and as
of this date is still functioning on a "one and one half eye"
basis. Obviously this does not permit the research required
to maintain our level of analysis and commentary. Thus we
offer this week just a very brief 3 point commentary, and
hope to resume as usual next week. Thank you for your
understanding and your prayers, if you feel so inclined.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

A NEW RECORD FOR BREVITY --
JUST A THREE WORD ANALYSIS
OF TODAY'S NEWS: "THE GOOD,
THE BAD AND THE HILARIOUS"


In trying to develop a brief, three point analysis of current events,
one logically turns to some of the great three word descriptions
which have been used in the past. One such group of words which
comes to mind is the title of the 1996 Italian film on the US Civil
War, "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly." That phrase seems to cut
across just about every aspect of our life in today's world.

But since we have to include the Obama administration in any such
contemporary analysis, it does seem a bit crude to use the term
"Ugly," although that is how the president usually describes America.
So, we prefer to substitute the equally applicable word "Hilarious"
in place of "Ugly." So we end up with these three words, "The Good,
the Bad and the Hilarious."

Point One -- the Good: Oddly enough, this was the most difficult
example to find. There did not seem to be anything really "Good"
in today's news to analyze and discuss. But as we examined our
many news sources, one great "Good" was clearly evident. And
fellow Christians -- it involved us! The great all-permeating "Good"
demonstrated in so many parts of our world this week is certainly
the response of churches and Christian organizations in trying to
meet the needs of millions who have been devastated by earthquakes,
tsunamis, typhoons and floods which have wrought havoc in the
Philippines, India, Samoa, Indonesia and Viet Nam ... plus the effects
of the worst drought in decades in the Sudan.

Literally armies of relief workers, and thousands of tons of supplies
have been been on-site, to relieve human suffering, save lives, and
thus demonstrate the acceptance of the service responsibilities on
the part of world Christendom.

So let us thank God for this practical, effective demonstration of
the Christian spirit of concern for our fellow man, world-wide.

Point Two -- the Bad: From the viewpoint of American Christians,
this was the easy one to decide upon.The undebatable example of
"Bad" was the announcement by the President of the National
Association of Evangelicals (NAE) favoring a program of amnesty
for illegal aliens. The announcement came as Rev. Leith Anderson,
the NAE president, testified on request of Senator Charles Schumer,
(D, NY) in the Senate Immigration Committee's hearing to push
Schumer's effort to create amnesty legislation for illegals in this
session of Congress. Clearly, the NAE is no longer what it was
founded to be, nor what it was for many years. The name could
well be changed to "National Association of Neo-Evangelicals." It
is certainly not today the organization we remember under Clyde
Taylor and J. Elwyn Wright.

Anderson's testimony was a hodge-podge of conflicting statements,
but the greatest damage is for the world to think that these views are
representative of the true Evangelical Christian believers in America.
When Schumer asked him if there had been any dissent among the
members, Anderson said that the 75 member Board was absolutely
uniform in their decision. Anderson said that: "Evangelicals do not
condone law breaking ... borders are necessary for public order."

Then he told Schumer that the Gospel requires that Christians forgive
aliens for breaking immigration laws, adding these words: "The process
of redemption and restitution is core to Christian beliefs, as we were
all once lost and redeemed through love of Jesus Christ."

To cap that mystifying theological application, Anderson expressed
agreement by the 75 "Evangelical leaders" that immigration laws that
have allowed legal immigration to soar from a traditional average of
250,000 a year to more than 1,000,000 a year are too strict and must
be changed to allow many more foreign workers to enter. You have
to shake your head in wonderment!

Point Three -- the Hilarious: No competition on this point; easily
the most hilarious event of the past week was the award of the Nobel
Peace Prize to Barack Hussein Obama. First, there is one element of
spelling which must be cleared up: The award is called the "Nobel"
prize, not the "Noble" prize. Be very sure of this fact -- there is not
anything "Noble" about this award.

But the really hilarious aspect was emphasized in Obama's response
to the early morning wake-up call. From the White House release of
the transcript: "To be honest, (well, that would be nice!) I do not feel
that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative
figures who've been honored by this prize -- men and women who've
inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous
pursuit of peace."

Let's see: that list of inspiring figures would include in the past few
years Al Gore, Jimmy Carter, Kofi Annan, Yasser Arafat, Mikhail
Gorbachev and Desmond Tutu. Ask yourself: are these the people
to whom the President of the United States should be turning for
inspiration? It really would be hilarious -- if it weren't so serious
and frightening.

Oh, yes . . . another hilarious aspect is the national and international
reaction to the award. It has been quite difficult to find any meaningful
favorable reactions from liberals or conservatives ... from Christian
or from non-religious. George Stephanopoulos, almost a member of
the White House cheer leading team, described it neatly; "The president
has essentially gotten the world's biggest, most elaborate fruitcake
from a wealthy aunt he can't afford to offend. You can't return it, you
can't re-gift it. You just gotta make the best of it..."

Naturally UN Secretary General Ban Kin-moon loved it: "This is great
news for President Obama, for the people of the United States and
for the United Nations." And former Polish President and Nobel Peace
Prize winner Lech Walesa said, "So soon? This is too soon. He has not
yet made a real input ... this is probably an encouragement for him
to act." And for a Christian reaction, Bill Donohue, president of the
Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, commented: "Unlike
another Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Mother Teresa, who said abortion
was 'the greatest destroyer of peace,' Obama has never indicated that
abortion undermines the cause of peace. Indeed, he champions
abortion as if it were a sacred right." Oh yes ... the "NAE" thought the
award was deserved because Obama is all for nuclear disarmament.

And after that concise, 3 word analysis of current events,
here is an equally concise word for today from one of our Founding
Fathers: “God governs in the affairs of man. And if a sparrow cannot
fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can
rise without His aid? We have been assured in the Sacred Writings that
except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. I
firmly believe this. I also believe that, without His concurring aid, we
shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of
Babel” -- Benjamin Franklin, 1787

THE PAST WEEK WAS NOT ONE OF THE BEST FOR BARACK OBAMA

`




ANY WAY YOU LOOK AT
IT THE PAST WEEK WAS
NOT ONE OF THE BEST
FOR BARACK OBAMA,
HERE AT HOME OR
INTERNATIONALLY


Obviously we do not have the time or the space to comment at length on
things that continue to go wrong with the Obama proposed program to
"change" America. Instead we will comment on just two from the past few
days. and on the overall angst which the American people are manifesting.

First, domestically: the report that for the month of September the
national unemployment rate had increased to 9.8% came as not only
as a shock, but also a set-back for the Obama administration's claim
for the success of its "stimulus" program. That was the highest level the
unemployment rate had reached in more than two decades, and the
number of new job losses also exceeded expectations with 263,000 more
jobs lost. (A substantial increase over the 201,000 jobs lost in August.)
The spin put on this report by the administration is that the number of job
losses is slowing. But with 15.1 million jobs lost since this recession
began, the actual percentage of job losses is increasing because of the
base of fewer employed people.

Unfortunately, we can all remember that when they began administering the
economy the Obamites promised that if their stimulus program were
adopted the unemployment rate would not exceed 8%. And among other
incorrect predictions, in mid-September Federal Reserve Chairman Ben
Bernanke said that the recession was probably now over. Now with the
national unemployment rate already at 9.8%, a rate of 10% seems likely in
the not too distant future. No, it's really not over, Ben.

And internationally, the prevailing news is that Chicago was not selected
by the International Olympic Committee as the host city for the 2016
games, but that it was eliminated from consideration on the first vote. The
crack US team of persuaders who confidently expected to win by the
sheer force of their personalities, included President Obama, his wife,
Michelle, and popular entertainment star, Oprah Winfrey. But they failed
abjectly in their pitch to the IOC. Chicago was the first city eliminated --
didn't even get to a second round vote. The problem may have been that
Mr. Obama was required to extol the advantages of Chicago, and he just
isn't accustomed to saying anything good about America. It appears that
his teleprompters are not programmed in that way.

So, in just those two instances, among others, it was not one of Mr.
Obama's best weeks. On other fronts, his demand for the "public option"
or government-run health insurance was not doing well in the Senate, and
on a national basis, the polls show American voters just don't want it. His
plan to shut down the Guantanamo detention facility and relocate the
detainees elsewhere ground to a slow-down or halt -- even his most solid
Democrat states do not want to accept the terrorists. And despite all his talk
about diplomatic approaches to Iran, the threat of a nuclear war is ever
present. Meanwhile, even with his excessive TV appearances and public
speeches on just about every opportunity, his performance approval
numbers continue to tumble, and the Rasmussen daily approval index
remains firmly in negative territory.

And now only 49% of American voters believe that the national economy
will be better in five years -- that figure is down from 64% who felt that
way at the start of the year. Even the TV show the Liberals love, "Saturday
Night Live," has gone so far as to ridicule his lack of accomplishments.

But Obama is still in power, and both Houses of Congress are firmly in
Democrat hands. And some of the actions currently underway provide
serious concerns for American Christians. FOCA ("Freedom of Choice
Act") will do more than any action since Roe v. Wade to increase the use
of abortion. An amendment to prohibit any use of public funding of
abortions through the proposed health reform act (offered by Senator
Hatch, R,UT) was rejected by the Democrat controlled Finance Committee
by a 13-10 vote. The committee also defeated an amendment to protect
the rights of doctors and nurses who refuse to perform abortions, and an
amendment to require proof of identity for individuals enrolling in the new
healthcare plan was also defeated by the Democrat majority. Action to
repeal DOMA ("Defense of Marriage Act") and thus increase national
recognition of same-sex "marriage" is expected shortly. So despite some
major setbacks in his sweeping program to "change" America, President
Obama still has tremendous power through his control of the Congress --
all of which makes the upcoming elections in 2010 all the more important if
we are to have any hope of the reclaiming of America to bring it back in
accord with its founding principles.

So what, as Christians, can we do in these difficult times? In our
September 23 issue we pointed out that in the 2008 elections which put
Barack Obama in power, 54% of Catholics, a large share of main line
Protestants and even a good percentage (25%) of Evangelical Christians
voted for the "change" which candidate Obama promised. We concluded
that summary with these words, "These facts help answer the question as
to who elected Barack Obama." Given his performance to date. it would
seem that Evangelicals and most nominal Christians, plus Catholics who
follow the church's teaching about abortion, would be ready to correct the
errors which they made in November of 2008. We are instructed to be both
"light" and "salt" in the world in which we live. We are also instructed not
to put our light under a basket, but to let it shine and be seen, and we are
warned against our salt losing it's taste -- in other words our opinions must
remain clear and strong and meaningful. We are encouraged to pray for
those in authority, and beyond that, to become what the Apostles were
spoken of -- "those who have turned the world upside down." (Acts 17:6)

As Christians our responsibility remains as a three-fold program . . . to pray
for our leaders, that their eyes may be open to the truth and that they be
given wisdom to act in accord with the truth . . . to speak our minds (as a
simple suggestion, take a few moments to phone (202) 224 - 3121 and tell
your Senators and Congressional members what you want them to do) . . .
and to work -- get ready for the 2010 elections and take the first step in
calling this nation back to what it was, and what is must be.

But we often wonder about the so-called "mega churches" -- as
an interesting comment on this subject, Chuck Colson, in his "Breakpoint"
column spoke about his "Centurions" program, and said that one of the
program's graduates, Matt Guerino, put it this way: "A majority of
evangelical churches today seem intent on feelings—how people feel
when they walk in the door, when they listen to the preacher, when they
leave after the service. Much of our preaching sounds like a
Christianized version of popular self-help thinking." Just as this nation
needs to return to the principles upon which it was founded, so the
Christian church needs to return to the principles upon which Jesus Christ
established it, that it should be such a powerfully effective force that even
the gates of Hell could not withstand its onslaughts.

Very frequently, it seems, we have to ask: Who can we believe?"
This past week former President Jimmy Carter insisted that he never said
that the protests against President Barack Obama were driven by racism in
his interview with Brian Williams on NBC TV on September 15. In that
interview he said very clearly that "there is an inherent feeling among
many in this country that an African-American should not be president.”

But during last week's interview with Candy Crowley on CNN he backed
off those remarks and said, “If you read the remarks carefully, you’ll see
that’s not what I said." And he added, “I said those that had a personal
attack on President Obama as a person, that was tinged with racism,
but I recognize that people who disagree with him on health care or the
environment, that the vast majority of those are not tinged by racism.”
And he concluded, “What I actually said, if you look at the transcript,
is what I just repeated to you.”

The problem is that a replay of the tape of the NBC interview shows that
the original remarks, as reported, are exactly what he said, and his revised
version on CNN is absolutely incorrect and untrue. What is embarrassing
for him and destructive of his credibility, is the fact that the two conflicting
tapes are being shown side by side on YouTube, available on line through
Newsmax.com.

Given the failure of the American presentation in behalf of Chicago for the
2016 Olympics, Mr. Carter can probably add to his use of the race card
the charge that the IOC ruled against Chicago because the American team
leaders were all blacks.

And Jimmy Carter isn't alone . . . remember "Actress/activist" Janeane
Garofalo? She's back. Last Friday night she used a media appearance on
HBO (with Bill Maher, naturally) to smear anti-Obama protesters as
racists, saying, "it's obvious to anybody who has eyes in this country that
tea-baggers, the 9-12ers, are clearly white power movements," and she
expressed regret that "so few people are willing to say that yes, it is
racism, straight up racism."

And a Founding Father said: "A feeble executive implies a feeble
execution of the government. A feeble execution is but another phrase
for a bad execution; and a government ill executed, whatever may be its
theory, must be, in practice, a bad government."
--Alexander Hamilton, 1788


Some Random Afterthoughts . . .


A few classic "one liners" from this past week . . .
"The next time that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad appears before an
international tribunal, it must not be as an honored guest at the United
Nations General Assembly. It must be as a defendant in the dock of the
International Criminal Court." (Pastor John Hagee)

"Barack Obama is on track to have the most spectacularly
failed presidency since Woodrow Wilson." (Geoffrey P. Hunt)

"There has been a growing narrative taking hold about Barack
Obama's presidency in recent weeks: that he is loved by many, but
feared by none; that he is full of lofty vision, but is actually achieving
nothing with his grandiloquence." (Tim Reid, UK Times)

"... ultimately, it comes down to the fact, it seems to me, that he seems
to have some malevolence toward this country which is unabated."
(Tammy Bruce)

"The major function of secrecy in Washington is to keep the U.S.
people from knowing what the nation’s leaders are doing."
(John Stockwell)

And not exactly "one liners," but a selection of comments arising
out of President Obama's initial UN speech . . .


"It was a combination of anti-Americanism, apologies to our sworn
enemies and outright foolishness." (Gary Bauer)

From former Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger on Barack Obama:
"a nice, well educated adolescent."

And even French President Sarkozy found it difficult to take Obama
seriously, and said: “We live in a real world, not a virtual world. And the
real world expects us to make decisions. ...President Obama dreams of a
world without nuclear weapons…but right in front of us two countries
(Iran and North Korea) are doing the exact opposite.”

But as former President Bill Clinton warned while he was in office: "You
know, by the time you become the leader of a country, someone else
makes all the decisions. … You may find you can get away with virtual
presidents, virtual prime ministers, virtual everything."

People are talking about . . .

Jimmy Carter's inane charge of "racism:" "Former president Jimmy Carter
said, 'I think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated
animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he
is a black man.' That's from a man who earlier referred to Obama as
'This black boy' on the Jim Lehrer 'News Hour'" (Walter Williams)

The UN and the recent G-20 Summit: "While all eyes were on the
rantings of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the United Nations, the United
States -- under President Obama -- was surrendering its economic
sovereignty at the G-20 summit." (Dick Morris)

America's loss of strength in the world: "From Afghanistan to Iran, North
Korea to Venezuela, Russia to China, America’s enemies are concluding
there is nothing to fear from America. From Poland to France, Great
Britain to Israel, our friends are concluding there is no resolve in
America. I am no prophet but on this I can predict with certainty: The
headlines in the months ahead from around the world will make it clear
that America is in retreat and that tyrants are on the move."
(Gary Bauer)

On the UN speech from one of our allies: "President Obama, I support
the Americans' outstretched hand. But what did the international
community gain from these offers of dialogue? Nothing."
(French President Nicolas Sarkozy)

And the UN is talking about the suicide bomber who this week struck at
the UN office in Islamabad, the Pakistan capitol, killing 5 staff members.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called it "a heinous crime." On
previous occasions the UN has tended to condemn Israel for reacting to
the ongoing rocket attacks on Israeli cities -- none of which were termed
"heinous." It appears to be an illustration of the validity of the old adage,
"It all depends on whose ox is being gored."

Poverty in America's cities . . . the percentage of the population living
at or below the poverty line.

1. Detroit , MI 32.5%
2. Buffalo , NY 29.9%
3. Cincinnati , OH 27.8%
4. Cleveland , OH 27.0%
5. Miami , FL 26.9%
5. St. Louis , MO 26.8%
7. El Paso , TX 26.4%
8. Milwaukee , WI 26.2%
9. Philadelphia , PA 25.1%
10. Newark , NJ 24.2%

Different as those cities may be, they have at least one thing in common --
they all have Democrat mayors, and most on a frequent recurrent basis.
The lesson to be learned? Do the math. It is the poor who continue to
elect Democrats, and they still remain poor.

And these Founding Fathers said: "An honest man can feel no
pleasure in the exercise of power over his fellow citizens."
-- Thomas Jefferson, 1813

"In Europe, charters of liberty have been granted by power. America has
set the example of charters of power granted by liberty. This revolution in
the practice of the world, may, with an honest praise, be pronounced the
most triumphant epoch of its history, and the most consoling presage of
its happiness." -- James Madison, 1792

To which we might add this quote from the 19th century:
"A State which dwarfs its men, in order that they may be more docile
instruments in its hands -- even for beneficial purposes -- will find that
with small men no great thing can really be accomplished."
-- John Stuart Mill, 1856

OBAMA'S NEW FRIEND

`



AS HIS APPROVAL RATINGS REMAIN
IN THE CELLAR, PRESIDENT OBAMA
GOT A NEW STAUNCH FRIEND,
MUAMMAR GADHAFI, WHO
REFERRED TO HIM AS "MY SON"

Anyway you evaluate them, the last couple of weeks have not been among
the best for our apprentice president. Looking back, there was his speech
to the joint session of Congress, (up to that time his 29th speech in
defense of his health care reform plan), designed to give a major boost to
that controversial proposal and ensure its immediate approval by his
Democrat controlled Congress. The speech was punctuated by
Representative Joe Wilson's shout of "You lie!" -- an appropriate remark
but expressed in an inappropriate setting. That speech did give him and
his plan a small, brief bounce in the approval ratings, but within 3 or 4
days the ratings were back down to pre-speech levels. All polls
continue to indicate that American voters do not really want or like this
reform plan, and certainly will not do so until they know what it actually
accomplishes.

Then came his unprecedented TV media blitz -- his appearance on five
(count 'em: 5!) talk shows on Sunday (all except "fair and balanced" Fox
News) discussing Jimmy Carter's unfounded racism charge, and trying to
establish some legitimacy for his health reform proposal, each appearance
featuring soft, gently lobbed questions from admiring hosts, interrupted by
George Stephanopoulos' probing question forcing him to attempt to dance
nimbly around any believable answer. Over-all, no recordable bounce in
any ratings, and actually a waste of time, talent and network money.

Then it was time for his initial appearance at the UN. Maybe the problem
is that his teleprompters get stuck on one of two themes. When it is a
domestic speech, the teleprompter just repeats all the campaign rhetoric.
Then when it is a international speech, the teleprompter just repeats the
litany of apologies for everything America has ever done throughout our
history. This time at the UN it was the apology speech, and Obama
echoed his previous world speeches by highlighting what he thinks is
wrong with America. But this time it included an incredibly arrogant listing
of accomplishments during his 9 months as president -- never referring to
anything America has done, but always using the first person singular
pronoun, claiming credit for all the monumental things he has done.

There were frequent moments of applause. Why wouldn't there be?
Anyone who claims to have done so much good in such a short time
deserves applause and recognition. And of course he did gain some very
significant recognition from the very next speaker, Libyan President
Gadhafi who called him "our son," speaking with reference to his African
heritage from his father, and "my son," apparently speaking from a more
personal or ideological basis. He also urged America to make Obama
president for life.

And as for any bounce in the president's slumping approval ratings, the
polls have shown absolutely no improvement, and his daily approval rating
index declined by a few points, still well down into negative territory. It is
as commentator Monica Crowley expressed it, "The problem the
president faces is that he lacks credibility."

Concerning the UN appearance, the London Telegraph editorialized under
this heading, "The UN loves Barack Obama because he is weak" and
said, "Obama’s popularity at the UN boils down essentially to his
willingness to downplay American global power. He is the first
American president who has made an art form out of apologizing for the
United States... The Obama mantra appears to be – ask not what your
country can do for you, but what you can do to atone for your country."
The writer, Nile Gardiner, continued, "The president scores highly at the
UN for refusing to project American values and military might on the
world stage ... His appeasement of Iran, his bullying of Israel, his
surrender to Moscow, his call for a nuclear free world, his siding with
Marxists in Honduras, his talk of a climate change deal, have all won
him plaudits in the large number of UN member states ... Simply put,
Barack Obama is loved at the UN because he largely fails to advance
real American leadership. This is a dangerous strategy of decline that
will weaken US power and make her far more vulnerable to attack."

Or as Pamela Geller wrote in "Atlas Shrugged:" " I think the UN loves
Obama because they both share an ugly contempt for America."

Coming out of the UN meeting, President Obama attended the G20
Summit conference in Pittsburgh, PA, where nothing significant for the
rest of the world was accomplished, aside from more endless, meaningless
rhetoric, and another in the ongoing series of "warnings" to Iran, to which
President Ahmadinejad responded by asking that Obama apologize to
Iran, and then almost the next day test-launched intercontinental missiles.
Very few of the international "leaders" seem to take current events very
seriously. Because he does take them most seriously is the reason Israeli
Prime Minister Netanyahu's speech was the one meaningful highlight of the
UN meeting.

Those are issues affecting national or international affairs, but what
about issues which affect us as individual Christians? In our issue of June
24 we voiced the warning, "Be afraid ... be very much afraid." That
warning is even more timely today than it was just three months ago. Let
us tell you why. While the furor over the president's health care reform
proposal ("Obamacare") has occupied our attention, behind those scenes
other proposals are moving forward. We remember DOMA (Defense of
Marriage Act), passed by Congress and signed into law by President
Clinton on September 21, 1996. DOMA defines marriage as a legal union
between one man and one woman for purposes of all federal laws, and
provides that states need not recognize a marriage from another state if it is
between persons of the same sex. During his campaign candidate Obama
promised to repeal DOMA, and efforts in that direction are moving ahead.
Even Bill Clinton is now on board, either persuaded by the president's
political clout, or captivated by the BHO oratorical charm -- but he now
claims he was wrong, and is all in favor of same-sex marriage. That issue
is of serious concern to Christians.

In similar fashion, during his campaign, Obama promised to enact FOCA
(Freedom of Choice Act) which will greatly facilitate abortions. That is
also of serious concern to Christians. Right now, under the leadership of
homosexual and powerful Representative Barney Frank (D, MA), ENDA
(Employment Non Discrimination Act) is on the fast track. This bill,
among other provisions, will make it unlawful for Christian organizations
to deny employment for failure to meet certain standards -- for example,
an individual cannot be bypassed because of his or her sexual orientation.
Obviously of serious concern to Christians.

And not to comment on every bill offensive to Christians, but the "Hate
Crimes Prevention Act" (HR 1913) should be mentioned. Christian leaders
have mainly focused their attacks on the bill because it endangers the free
speech of pastors and any Christians who want to speak out against
homosexuality, based on Scriptural reasons. Those are just a few of the
potential laws awaiting action by Congress which are of serious concern
to all Christians. "Be afraid ... be very much afraid."

So what can we, as Christians, do about all this? Option #1, we can
sit back, chuckle at the anti-Obama cartoons, the insulting pictures and the
sarcastic poems we read, say "isn't it terrible!" and do nothing. The results
of that strategy are guaranteed: the situation will get worse. Or, as Option
#2, we can adopt a 3-fold strategy starting with (1) Pray for God to bless
America (even if the ACLU forbids) and ask Him to give wisdom to the
president and elected officials; (2) Actually contact our Congress people
in Washington (phone (202) 224-3121), and tell them what we want them
to do; (3) Begin working right now toward reclaiming America in the 2010
elections -- they're just a year away. It's an individual choice -- but make
no mistake: ANC is going to continue to beat this same drum, and not let
up on attempting to persuade our readers that America is worth salvaging,
and that the Church which Jesus established is the greatest possible force
to accomplish that goal.

This Founding Father had it right: "Political interest [can] never
be separated in the long run from moral right ... Can the liberties of a
nation be sure when we remove their only firm basis, a conviction in the
minds of the people, that these liberties are a gift from God?"
-- Thomas Jefferson, 1814

Some Random Afterthoughts . . .

Every now and then we think about ceasing this, but then we receive
messages from readers saying they enjoy our selection of "one liners" ...
"Most people are too busy earning a living to make any money."
(Joe Karbo)

"When is a Tax not a Tax? When Obama says it isn't." (Yid with Lid )

"Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if
you must be without one, be without the strategy."
(General Norman Schwarzkopf)

"This president is starting to lie with disturbing regularity."
(L. Brent Bozell)

"During his first eight months in office, President Obama has sat down
for three times as many television interviews as his most recent two
predecessors combined." (New York Post)

"In less than a year, Leon Panetta's CIA has been reduced to irrelevance
and Panetta himself has either been ignored or emasculated by the very
folks who were supposed to be his biggest supporters." (S.E. Cupp)

This one is a bit longer -- but good. "There is a better explanation for the
growing opposition to President Obama. It has less to do with his
ethnicity than it does his credibility. Character, after all, is colorless."
(Cal Thomas)

Just what we have been saying: There is more bad news for the media
in a new poll from Sacred Heart University's Polling Institute which finds
that 83.6% of Americans (that's 5 out of 6) see the national news media
as "very or somewhat biased," and interestingly enough, 89.3% (nearly 9
out of 10) say the media were a strong factor in electing Barack Obama as
President last year. And according to the Sacred Heart poll, 67.9% of
Americans agreed with a statement that read: 'Old-style, traditionally
objective and fair journalism is dead.' Who would have guessed?

Speaking of the media: two unreported prayer meetings: the first
in mid-afternoon, September 21, in Times Square in the heart of Manhattan.
The organizers, Times Square Church, had hoped for and expected
15,000 for this 3rd annual event -- but their expectations were completely
overturned when the attendance reached -- by "official" estimates --
between 40,000 and 60,000, with the consensus favoring the higher figure.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg spoke to the crowd -- but the
media completely ignored it. Successful Christian events just don't meet
the standards of the liberal news media.

The second was the Muslim day of prayer at the US Capitol in
Washington on September 25. The organizers had predicted 50,000 . . .
and all day long, as people began arriving, the TV networks reported that
"tens of thousands" were assembling. The media obviously wanted
something to look good alongside the one million or more at the
Conservative, anti-Obamacare rally in the same area on September 12. But
when the final report was in, the news releases told the story: "nearly 3000
attend Muslim prayer rally in Washington." The media ignored it,
because it failed to produce the non-Christian impact that makes headlines.

Remember the old one: "Don't rain on my parade" ... Up above
a big military parade in Tehran on Tuesday, Sept. 22, as the Iranian president
declared Iran's armed forces would "chop off the hands" of any power
daring to attack his country, two air force jets collided in mid-air. One was
Iran's only airborne warning and control system (AWACS) for
coordinating long-distance aerial operations. Ooooops ...

A statistic we have been expecting to read; now, suddenly, here
it is. "Rome/Basel, 26.09.2009/APD According to recent information
provided by the Vatican, Muslims now outnumber Catholics worldwide.
At the end of 2008, there were 1.280 billion Muslims and 1.165 billion
Catholics, reported Vittorio Formenti, director of the head office for
statistics of the Roman Catholic Church. The Italian newspaper 'Il
Tempo' stated that the number of Christians worldwide totals 2.145
billion. The figure for Muslims was not divided into Shia and Sunni or
other Muslim communities. Formenti also said that the approximate
figure for Muslims is estimated upon the birth rate in Muslim countries.
It is supposed that someone who is born in a Muslim country, is
automatically Muslim." (Courtesy R.A. Williams, Australia)

Al Gore's "Global Warming" theory hit again: Claims for the
validity of the Global Warming theory are based on decades of data on the
world's temperature. However, for years anyone who requested access to
this data were told they weren't "qualified" to see it. Now, no one can see
it because the data supposedly has been "lost." Translation: "The dog ate
the global warming reports." But Al isn't a complete loser -- our generous
government gave him a half billion of our tax dollars to help him start a
"green" sports car factory in Scandinavia -- the car to sell for about
$90,000, obviously something everyone needs.

That song taught to first graders in New Jersey schools is strongly
reminiscent of the indoctrination of youth in North Korea, communist
China, the Soviet Union, and Nazi Germany. It seems to be a revision
of the old hymn, "Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the
world," but the new words are: "He said we must be fair today. Equal
work means equal pay. Barack Hussein Obama. He said red, yellow,
black or white, all are equal in his sight. Barack Hussein Obama."

An important and enduring Founding Father quote: "We have
no government armed with power capable of contending with human
passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge,
or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a
whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral
and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any
other." -- John Adams, 1798

CHRISTIAN CONSERVATIVE EVANGELICAL MOVEMENT

`





IT IS VERY ENCOURAGING to read your messages each
week, and we continue to say "Thank you" for your reaction
to what we are trying to do . . . and also for your forwarding
your copy to friends, and urging them to subscribe. That is the
only way we can grow -- we have no funds for promotional
purposes. But our message continues to be important -- the
review of current events from a Christian Evangelical viewpoint.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

LET'S PAUSE FOR A MOMENT AND RETHINK
THE FACT THAT WE WHO REPRESENT THE
CHRISTIAN CONSERVATIVE EVANGELICAL
MOVEMENT IN AMERICA ARE LEADERLESS


The concept of "leader" or "leadership" is not a major theme of Scripture;
"Leadership" is never mentioned, and the word "leader" occurs only three
times, and the plural, "leaders" only three times. So for definition we have
to turn to secular sources, and we find very generalized definitions like:
"Leader: a person who rules, guides, or inspires others;" or "To lead is
essentially to move ahead of others; to guide and to show the way." But
a more perceptive definition introduces a new aspect, defining leadership
as "the capacity to inspire a group of people to pursue an articulated
vision, and to ensure their continuous cooperation for the realization of
that vision."

The introduction of the concept of a vision as being an integral part of
leadership directs us to a Scriptural admonition on that subject. It has been
said that we should read the Psalms to learn how to get along with God,
and we should read the Proverbs to learn how to get along with fellow-
man. Thus in Proverbs 29:20 we read: "Where there is no vision the
people perish."

It is a logical conclusion that we who hold to the Christian Conservative
Evangelical position are in need of visionary leadership. Louay Safi, the
Muslim reformer, and opponent of Islamic radicalism, authored this
thought which expresses the concept of visionary leadership in a
pragmatic manner, “Leaders are visionaries who have the capacity to
communicate their vision with clarity, translate it into a set of concrete
actions, and inspire others to follow their lead.” This concept of
leadership points to the importance of the leader’s personal convictions
and their personal abilities. No clearer expression of the need which we
Christian Conservative Evangelicals share could be stated.

Ten days ago one of the largest "marches on Washington" demonstrated
the strong views of the majority of the American people that the liberal
trends of the Obama administration do not represent what America wants
to happen. This past weekend a much smaller but more intense conference
-- the Annual Value Voters Summit -- brought together the principal
spokespersons for the Conservative position. Apparent throughout the
very perceptive and important considerations was the fact that at the
present time the Christian Conservative Evangelical movement (Hillary
Clintons dreaded "vast right wing conspiracy") is, in fact, leaderless.

In the year 2007 we lost two important figures in the deaths of James
Kennedy, pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, and founder of the
"Center for Reclaiming America for Christ" to encourage Christians to
become involved in politics, and Jerry Falwell, pastor of Thomas Road
Baptist Church, president of Liberty University and founder of the
"Moral Majority." For the past quarter century, the theologically sound
political views of Jim Kennedy, and the powerfully effective public
presentations of Jerry Falwell, provided the Christian Conservative
Evangelical cause with the leadership this nation needed.

In their absence, with no leadership voice to proclaim the strong moral
convictions they so unwaveringly expressed, in the last election we saw the
nation swayed by the empty promise of "change you can believe in," and
the total federal government turned over to a liberal president and an
equally liberal Congress.

If national polls mean anything, the present reports should offer us some
hope for the elections of 2010 and 2012. After the president's speech to a
joint session of Congress, and its frequent replays on TV, it appeared that
his controversial health reform plan had generated a modest bounce of
support, but within a few days the opposition to the plan had risen to a
new high with 56% of American voters against it. And at the same time the
president's daily approval rating index rose to a -3, but just as quickly
dropped back to the higher negative numbers where it has been stuck for
some time.

From a Christian standpoint, opposition to the president's health reform
plan focuses on the abortion funding issue, concerning which widely
varying reports have emerged from the plan's supporters. From a voter's
standpoint 48% believe no government-subsidized health care plan should
cover abortion procedures, while only 13% support such coverage.

On the plan's proposed coverage of illegal immigrants, again widely
differing views have been expressed by the supporters, but among the
nation's voters, 83% believe that people should have to prove their
citizenship to receive government subsidized health benefits.

The obvious point is that the president and the Congress are determined to
force upon the American people a health reform program which does not
meet their wants and needs. Upon this very strong expression of rejection
of the administration's present course, the Christian Conservative
Evangelical movement should be building toward success in the next two
national elections.

But at the moment we are without leadership from the Evangelical cause,
and the Republican party, which is normally supportive of these moral
issues, is virtually dead. The Conservative element seems to have some
strength, but here, as in the other aspects, there is no strong leader to
achieve fulfillment of the moral vision for this nation. Lacking such a
leader in the 2008 election, Mr. Obama received approximately 25% of
the Evangelical vote, approximately 54% of the Catholic vote, and cut in
half the previous election's Republican advantage among Protestants.
These facts help answer the question as to who elected Barack Obama.

Our readers represent wide views of the American scene. Here
is a question for our readers -- an unofficial poll, if you will: Who would
you suggest as a possible leader for the Christian Conservative
Evangelical cause in the near or immediate future? Send your replies to:
american_news_2008@yahoo.com/ Thank you.

Again: no peace solution in the Middle East. Only hours after
President Obama's peace envoy to the Middle East returned from a futile
effort to reach agreement between Palestine and Israel, Hassan Nasrallah,
the Hizbullah leader in Lebanon, called Israel an "illegitimate cancerous
entity," and added "we will not recognize, deal or normalize with Israel
even if the whole world recognize it." In the eyes of international
observers, Senator Mitchell's failure is seen as representing President
Obama's first major foreign policy setback. The next step appears to be a
meeting between Obama, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Palestinian
President Abbas at the UN this week, but officials there acknowledge that
a photograph and handshake will not be enough to restart the peace
process without substantial shifts in positions so firmly held by both sides.

This week's Muslim prayer rally at the nation's capitol. Muslims who
are working to stage the “Our Day has come Muslim day of Prayer” at the
US Capitol on Friday, say that President Obama provided their inspiration
for the event through his inaugural address and his speech to Muslims
from Egypt in June. One Islamic cleric said in a sermon, "We are going to
the White House, so that Islam will be victorious, Allah willing, and the
White House will become the Muslim house." Organizers expect at least
50,000 Muslims will be in attendance for the day long event. At the time
of publication of this commentary, no announcement as to the extent of
President Obama's participation has been released by the White House.

We are facing some difficult and dangerous times; perhaps the
most dangerous to all that America has stood for in the 233 years since our
founding fathers declared our independence. We continue to urge
obedience to the Scriptural injunction to pray for all that are in authority.
(I Tim. 2:2) This doesn't mean that all those in authority are right, but it is
our clear responsibility as Christians to pray for them to see the right, and
to do it, and for God to give them wisdom in fulfilling the responsibilities
of their office. And it is our right as well as our responsibility to inform our
elected officials as to how we want them to govern our nation. America is,
and has always been, a nation founded on Judeo-Christian principles. It is
so easy to phone the capitol switchboard: (202) 224-3121 and speak to
your Senators and Representatives. That call may never have been more
urgent than it is today.

This Founding Father understood what is most important:
"Government is instituted for the common good; for the protection,
safety, prosperity, and happiness of the people; and not for profit, honor,
or private interest of any one man, family, or class of men; therefore, the
people alone have an incontestable, unalienable, and indefeasible right
to institute government; and to reform, alter, or totally change the same,
when their protection, safety, prosperity, and happiness require it."
-- John Adams, 1798


Some Random Afterthoughts . . .


Forgive us, one more time: but here are a few more "one liners" ...
"We say that this fake regime [Israel] cannot logically continue to live."
(Iran president Ahmadinejad)

"A majority in the American mainstream media have what amounts to
an adolescent crush on President Obama." (Kelly Boggs, Baptist Press)

Around this time every year, “everybody in Washington gets all wee-
weed up,” (President Barack Obama)

"Six months ago, Obama's approval rating was 70 percent. Does Carter
think that number has sunk to 50 percent because tens of millions of
Americans suddenly discovered Obama was black? (Pat Buchanan)

"What Pelosi and others are doing is simple: if you are on the losing side
of a debate, stop debating and start attacking." (Bobby Eberle)

"Have a nice day, unless you already have other plans." (Anonymous)

Here's a "change" Americans agree on: Rasmussen Reports
periodically asks adults their views of nine major professions. In the
latest report, Members of Congress have now surpassed corporate CEOs
as holding the least favorably regarded profession in America. It is about
time Congress got some recognition! And a new Gallup poll shows that
the number of people who believe government has its hand in too many
areas of American life has reached its highest point in more than a decade.
57% of those surveyed say government is doing too much, while 38%
say it should do more.That unfavorable number is up sharply from March
when 47 percent said government was doing too much and 42 percent said
it should do more. The last time the number of people who believe our
government is doing too much hit 57% was in October 1994, just before
voters threw Democrats out of power in both the House and the Senate.

A startling analysis of the world's great civilizations, attributed to
Alexander Fraser Tyler (also spelled Tytler) in 1770. Edinburgh University
has record of there being a Scottish historian by that name who wrote
some books in the 19th century but no record of this quote was found in
any of his writings. However the exact source does not mitigate the value
of the analysis. Consider carefully "The Cycle of Democracy:"

"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can
only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse
from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always
voted for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public
treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over lousy
fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average of the
world's great civilizations before they decline has been 200 years. These
nations have progressed in this sequence:

From bondage to spiritual faith;
From spiritual faith to great courage;
From courage to liberty (rule of law);
From liberty to abundance;
From abundance to complacency;
From complacency to apathy;
From apathy to dependence;
From dependence back into bondage (rule of men)."

It does not require any comments from us to point out the line on which
our nation, the United States of America, finds itself today . . . or to
indicate where we will be in the very near future.

What would he say today? "I think we have more machinery of
government than is necessary, too many parasites living on the labor of
the industrious." -- Thomas Jefferson, 1824

TWO MAJOR CURRENT ISSUES

`






IN THIS ISSUE WE WILL TOUCH
ON TWO MAJOR CURRENT ISSUES,
AND LEAVE ANY EXTENDED
DISCUSSION TO OTHERS

First, concerning the health care reform issue:
"The speech" -- the much heralded speech by the
president before a joint session of Congress, was
obviously a desperation effort to regain the lost
initiative in the attempt to "reform" (whatever that
may mean) the nation's health insurance practices.
After listening to "the speech," on Wednesday
night and the seemingly endless re-runs on the
following days, here is a brief evaluation which
occurred to us.

If you are at all interested in the field of classic
cinema, high on your list of favorites must be the
1949 British production of Graham Greene's
novel, "The Third Man." The memorable quotes
from that film are many -- perhaps more than
from any other single film. The one which is so
applicable in this present instance is from the
film's leading character, Harry Lime : "In Italy,
for 30 years under the Borgias, they had
warfare,murder and bloodshed, but they
produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci,
and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they
have brotherly love. They had 500 years of
democracy and peace, and what did that
produce? - The cuckoo clock!"

The application is clear. After all the build-up
and anticipation, in the most prestigious setting
possible, and with the greatest possible media
coverage, the president's speech produced
absolutely nothing new and accomplished
absolutely nothing even remotely resembling
an adequate explanation or clarification of an
issue which the majority of the American people
have indicated they simply do not understand,
and do not want.

With "the speech," Obama took control (or so
he claims) of the action on Obamacare, and has
apparently made it his No. 1 project, traveling
across country to hold campaign-like rallies in
support of his proposal. Despite his claims to
the contrary, this is not a bi-partisan effort, but
even within the ruling Democrat party, opinions
and attitudes concerning Obamacare seem to
change, almost daily. This is not a subject we
are going to spend time, space and thought on
for the immediate future. The issue will wend
its way through Congress, and in due time it
will once again be a "current event" upon
which we will comment.

For now, "the speech" is over. Commentator
Monica Crowley summed-up the event most
succinctly: "The problem the president faces
is that he lacks credibility. No one believes
what he is saying." Congressman Joe Wilson
of South Carolina expressed the same
conclusion even more succinctly, but in an
inappropriate place and an inappropriate manner;
he shouted out "You lie" during the speech. The
Media Research Center described the speech as
a "litany of lies," and used the phrase "serial
dishonesty" to describe the entire Obamacare
campaign.

The Obama controlled media was -- as expected
-- fluent in its praise, as from MSNBC's Keith
Olberman: "a touch of greatness;" ABC's
George Stephanopoulos: "a pretty remarkable
speech;" NBC's Chuck Todd: "re-branding
the President himself as a centrist and a
pragmatist;" and CNN's David Gergen: "a very
well-crafted speech ... tonight we saw the
Obama we elected."

Now Washington's power politics will go to
work, taking over the supposedly democratic
process of reaching the best decision on
legislation which will affect, for better or worse,
the American people.

Should you, as a Christian American, sit back,
do nothing, and allow the wielders of power in
Washington to make decisions on legislation
which directly affect how you live and even
whether you live or die? You have every right
to express yourself -- it is so simple to phone
the US Capital switchboard at: (202) 224-3121,
and ask to speak to your Senator or to your
Representative. Or you can do nothing and let
them have their way.

The other major issue which we will simply
mention, and then leave all of the discussion
concerning it to someone else, is concerning
the lack of information about the background
and prior experience of Barack Obama.

Intensive investigation efforts have been made,
and still continue -- but in dismissing this issue
from our area of comment, we reproduce here
brief excerpts from a summary from a Western
Journalism Investigative Report:

"The fact is we know less about President
Obama than perhaps any other president in
American history and much of this is due to
actual efforts to hide his record... At every
opportunity Obama's high-priced lawyers
have built walls around various records ...
It is estimated that Obama's legal team has
now spent well over $1.4 million dollars
blocking access to documents every American
should have access to ...The president who
campaigned for a more 'open government'
and 'full disclosure' will not unseal his medical
records, his school records, his birth records
or his passport records. He will not release his
Harvard records, his Columbia College records,
or his Occidental College records ... All his
legislative records from the Illinois State Senate
are missing ... In addition, no one can find his
school records for the elite college prep school,
Punahou School, he attended in Hawaii."

The report restates facts already before us. We
do know very little about the man who is the
President of the United States. By family heritage,
we know him to be half-American, half-Kenyan.
Although he is called "black," he is as much
white as black, being by birth half of both of
those ethnic classifications. From a religious
standpoint we know he was raised as a Muslim
in the Islamic faith, and as an adult for some
20 years he sat under the teaching of a minister
in Chicago -- Rev. Jeremiah Wright -- who is
best known for telling his congregation not to
say "God bless America," but rather "God
d--- America." Otherwise, as the Western
Journalism report indicates, we are restricted
to anecdotal information, since the facts have
been withheld.

It is not our purpose or intent to initiate another
request for full disclosure of the man's
background, his life and achievements. Others
have tried to accomplish this through a variety
of legitimate approaches, and have been rebuffed
on every attempt. As American citizens we have
the right to ask why he is doing this, and ask
what it is about his past that he is so determined
to keep secret and hidden from the American
public.

But this is another issue concerning which we
will not speculate or discuss but will leave it for
others to seek the explanation. We simply ask:
"Why?"

If you thought we offered false information
about the Muslim take-over of Western Europe,
please note this report from Paul Williams in the
email publication, "The Last Crusade." "Libyan
President Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi has
mounted a multi-billion campaign to transform
England and Wales into Islamic nations. Eleven
Islamic missionaries will launch the campaign
this week in Manchester, Sheffield, Nottingham,
Birmingham, Leicester, Glasgow, Cardiff and
Swansea. The effort is being sponsored by the
World Islamic Call Society (WICS), an
organization that was established by the
Libyan leader. In a recent speech, Colonel
Gaddafi said that the aim of WICS is to
convert the whole of Europe to Islam. 'This
religion shall overcome all other religions
before it. Their time has gone. It is his
promise, Allah shall prevail this religion over
the rest.' Gaddafi believes that the effort will
succeed since WICS has been the recipient of
billions in revenue from Libyan oil. 'There are
tens of millions of Muslims in the European
continent and the number is on the increase,'
he said. 'This is the clear indication that the
European continent will be converted to Islam.'”

Until a similar offensive is launched in America
-- and we have little doubt that it will be -- our
prayers must be in support of our fellow
Christians in Great Britain.

Barack Obama - a spiritual leader? It has
been broadly announced, and is being actively
promoted in Islamic mosques across the country,
that on September 25 there will be a day-long
Muslim prayer rally on the grounds of the US
capitol. Hassen Abdellah, president of the
Dar-ul-Islam mosque in Elizabeth, NJ, the
organizer of the event, said that the idea
developed from President Obama’s speech to
Muslims in Cairo in June -- a speech which was
analyzed at the time as meriting Congressman
Joe Wilson's outcry during the president's
recent speech on healthcare reform. It has been
reported that a permit from the Capitol Hill police,
granted July 28, allows Muslims to use the area
by the West Front of the Capitol building from
4 a.m. to 7 p.m. on September 25. The
organizers expect 50,000 attendees from mosques
across America.

President Obama celebrated the Islamic holy
month of Ramadan with a dinner at the White
House on September 1, observing itfar, the meal
which breaks the holiday's daily fast. He praised
American Muslims for enriching the nation’s
culture, saying, “The contribution of Muslims
to the United States are too long to catalog
because Muslims are so interwoven into the
fabric of our communities and our country."
No indication of any plans for the president to
participate in the September 25 rally have yet
been announced.

And to that report might be added this
analysis by Martel Sobieskey: "One thing is
certain, Islam is not a religion by anything
Americans believe one to be — not even close.
In fact, Islam is the antithesis of what we deem
to be religious. ... Above all, Islam is a
totalitarian political machine of bloodthirsty
conquest which zealously advocates the
downfall of the US government... Mohammed
and the Koran bellicosely command 'your
kingdom is my kingdom, surrender or die!'
Let's be to the point. It is sheer madness,
exceedingly irresponsible, criminally negligent,
and strategically suicidal to continue granting
religion status to an absolutely aggressive and
implacable ideology that demands the
destruction of our government and all other
religions."

A continuing urgent request for prayer: In
each issue we have urged our fellow Christians
in America -- and elsewhere -- to pray for our
nation in these difficult days, and to ask God
to give to our president wisdom in dealing with
the problems confronting him. And beyond our
shores we urge prayer support for our fellow
Christians in so many areas of the world who
are facing persecution, and are even experiencing
execution, from Muslims and other enemies of
our faith, because of their faith in our God and
Savior Jesus Christ. That is our responsibility,
and privilege, as Christian believers.

The Founding Fathers understood America's
dependence on God. "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 for ever."
-- Thomas Jefferson, 1781


Some Random Afterthoughts . . .


Hopefully, you'll forgive us . . . but here are
a few more "one liners" ...

"There is an age-old joke that suggests politics
is defined as being the combination of two other
words: poly, meaning "many," and "ticks,"
meaning blood-sucking pests." (Lady Liberty)

"I still have a concern that he (BHO) is such a
skilled dispenser of falsehoods that he will
always find the words to pull yet another
deceitful rabbit out of his duplicitous hat."
(Robert Ringer)

"He described a fantasy land where everyone
gets more benefits, nobody loses anything and
the deficit magically doesn't increase."
(Gary Bauer)

"You lie." (Congressman Joe Wilson)

"There remain some significant details to iron
out.” (President Obama)

"E pluribus unum -- out of many, one -- was
the national motto the men of '76 settled upon.
One sees the pluribus. But where is the unum?
One sees the diversity. But where is the unity?"
(Pat Buchanan)

Every now and then something happens that
demonstrates the validity of old, familiar sayings
-- some of which almost merit being called adages.
Like the father of Russian communism, Vladimir
Lenin's "A lie told often enough becomes truth."
Which he probably borrowed a few years earlier
from William James, the father of modern
psychology, "There's nothing so absurd that
if you repeat it often enough, people will believe
it." In this current news story is the essence of
the point we are making:

(From Bloomberg News) "Foreclosure filings
in the U.S. exceeded 300,000 for the sixth
straight month as job losses that boosted the
unemployment rate to a 26-year high left many
homeowners unable to keep up with their
mortgage payments. A total of 358,471
properties received a default or auction notice
or were seized last month, according to data
provider RealtyTrac Inc. That’s up 18 percent
from a year earlier, the Irvine, California-
based company said in a statement."

Acting on news of that nature, MSNBC
commented, "Even the Treasury Department
admits there are millions more home
foreclosures on the way. Yet, they keep talking
about the recovery we are having - hoping
that repeating it will convince everyone it is true."

Lenin and James were right. Say it often enough
and people will believe it. It's nice to know our
administration is in step with the teachings of
history.

Sad but true, when you give it some thought:
"One of the first things Stalin, Hitler, Mao, and
other totalitarians did was rewrite the histories
of their nations, remaking the past to bolster
their control of the present. The American Left
has done the same thing in our country: Most
American history books -- both for students
and adults -- are riddled with PC (Politically
Correct) nonsense that makes the Founding
Fathers over into racist slaveholders, the
settlers of the West into genocidal land-stealers,
and the welfare state into America's ultimate
triumph." -- Thomas S. Winter, Editor in Chief,
Human Events

Our Founding Fathers understood that every
citizen is important: "Government is instituted
for the common good; for the protection, safety,
prosperity, and happiness of the people; and
not for profit, honor, or private interest of any
one man, family, or class of men; therefore, the
people alone have an incontestable, unalienable,
and indefeasible right to institute government;
and to reform, alter, or totally change the same,
when their protection, safety, prosperity, and
happiness require it." -- John Adams, 1776
- - - - - - - - - -

QUO VADIS? -- WHERE ARE YOU GOING?

`




SOME READERS MAY REMEMBER
THE ISSUE OF JUNE 24 WHEN WE
ASKED THE QUESTION: QUO VADIS? --
WHERE ARE YOU GOING?

The simple question which Peter asked Jesus
(John 13:36) has found its way into literature,
as one of the most read books of all time, and
into the cinema with at least two films by that
name. But beyond that recalling of Peter's
question and Jesus' insightful answer, the phrase
has come to represent profound philosophical
thinking at critical times in our history. "Where
are you going?" or in broader terms, "Where
are we going?"

It is a good question for American Christians
to consider today. Where are we going? As a
nation we find ourselves in the hands of a young
president who is at best a left leaning liberal, but
apparently one with strong European-style
socialistic convictions. And arising as it does
from some of his pronouncements, the question
"Where are we going?" takes on some very
serious connotations. Consider a few -- just a
very few -- of his "firsts" as our apprentice
president.

Well within his first 100 days in office, he
made his first overseas trip to attend the G20
Economic Summit in London. While there he
offered Saudi King Abdullah a deep and
prolonged bow from the waist in what was
described by the Washington Times as a
"shocking display of fealty to a foreign
potentate." The paper's editorial said further,
"The bow was an extraordinary protocol
violation ...There is no precedent for U.S.
presidents bowing to Saudis or any other
royals."

Despite the "spin" put on the report by glib-
tongued Robert Gibbs, the White House press
agent, the pictures released of the scene erase
any doubt that this bow of humble obeisance
was exactly as described.

While on that same first overseas trip, his
next stop was in Strasbourg to address the NATO
conference there. The UK newspaper, the
Telegraph, reported his statements in these words,
"His speech in Strasbourg went further than
any United States president in history in
criticizing his own country's actions, while
standing on foreign soil." He spoke of the
"arrogance" demonstrated by America in our
dealings with Europe; in doing so disregarding
the more than one half million members of
American military forces who gave their lives
during World Wars I and II -- in the words of
President Woodrow Wilson in April, 1917 --
"to make the world safe for democracy." The
president also said, “It is a fearful thing to
lead this great peaceful people into war, into
the most terrible and disastrous of all wars,
civilization itself seeming to be in the balance.”

Or in the words of President Franklin Roosevelt
as he spoke of "a day of infamy," in December,
1941, "Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at
the fact that our people, our territory and our
interests are in grave danger. With confidence
in our armed forces, with the unbounding
determination of our people, we will gain the
inevitable triumph. So help us God." As twice
in one century we went into battle to save Europe,
there was little "arrogance" demonstrated by the
two American presidents who had to make the
decision to go to war.

And still within those first 100 days in office,
President Obama scored another "first" before a
Muslim audience in Turkey where he repeated a
statement he had made in a June, 2007 speech,
"Whatever we once were, we’re no longer a
Christian nation." Then, perhaps realizing what
he had said, he added the words, "At least not
just," and went on to speak of there being Muslims,
Jews and atheists in America. He thus became the
first American president to deny that America is
a Christian nation, and by so doing he repudiated
the principles of belief which have made America
great and refuted the declarations of his presidential
predecessors.

We have often cited the nation's Founding Fathers
as affirming this fact; for example revolutionary
leader Patrick Henry who said: "It cannot be
emphasized too strongly or too often that this
great nation was founded, not by religionists,
but by Christians; not on religions, but on the
gospel of Jesus Christ." Or the great Democrat
president, Woodrow Wilson, who said, "A
nation which does not remember what it was
yesterday, does not know what it is today ...
America was born a Christian nation. America
was born to exemplify that devotion to the
tenets of righteousness which are derived from
the revelations of Holy Scripture." And as
recently as 1947 another Democrat president,
Harry Truman, wrote to Pope Pius XII: "This
is a Christian nation ... I don't think we
emphasize that enough these days. If we don't
have a proper fundamental moral background,
we will finally end up with a totalitarian
government which does not believe in rights for
anybody except the State."

And President Obama is planning for at least
two more "firsts," neither of which is something
to cause American Christians to rejoice.
(1) The People’s Republic of China is celebrating
60 years of hard core communism, and Chinese
sources reported over the weekend that the
celebration will include raising the flag of that
communist country on the south lawn of the
White House on September 20. Chinese
associations in America had applied to hold a
ceremony in front of the US President’s
residence, and Chen Ronghua, chairman of
Fujian Association of the United States, told
reporters that their application was approved
not only because of the sound Sino-US relations
but also because China is a responsible country.

It has been announced that approximately 1,000
persons will attend the flag raising ceremony.
While it is customary to display the flag of another
nation when officials of that nation are visiting,
this appears to be the first time a foreign nation's
flag will be flown at the White House to celebrate
that nation's founding -- whether or not it is a
communist nation.

(2) On September 24, the president will take
the unprecedented step of presiding over a
meeting of the UN Security Council. FACT: No
American president has ever before attempted
to acquire the image of what is being called
"King of the Universe" by officiating at a meeting
of the UN’s highest body. However, this act has
the potential for developing into a diplomatic
blunder of the most serious proportions. Mr.
Obama did not simply decide to chair the
session -- he has also set the agenda. Our UN
Ambassador, Susan Rice, has announced that
agenda in these words, “The session will be
focused on nuclear non-proliferation and
nuclear disarmament broadly, and not on any
specific countries.” Thus, there does not appear
to be a focus on those rogue nations of North
Korea and Iran under the subject heading of
"non-proliferation," but rather on "disarmament"
-- a subject which does not appear on the Security
Council's list of issues to be considered. And
with the strong anti-Israel bloc, this could
conceivably lead to the UN deciding to delay
any non-proliferation action against North Korea
and Iran until Israel has been disarmed.

Those are a few of the "firsts" recorded
during the first few months of the Obama
administration. From a Christian standpoint, the
question we asked on June 24 remains very
relevant: "Where are we going?" Many
concerns are legitimately expressed. Concerning
the president's disavowal that this is a Christian
nation -- with various polls reporting that from
82% to 85% of the American people claim to be
Christian, and perhaps 8% to 10% claim to be
non-religious, that leaves a scant 7% of the
population for all other religious beliefs -- surely
logic and reason would come down on the side
of this still being a Christian nation.

Concerning the flying of the Chinese flag to
commemorate the communist takeover of that
ancient nation, it would seem to be culturally and
reasonably understood that patriotic Americans,
if asked, would not favor flying the flag of a
nation whose governmental philosophy is so
dramatically opposed to the founding principles
of our nation. If these reports are correct, and if
the flying of the Chinese flag at the White House
does take place on September 20, we must hope
that those in charge who have granted such
permission, understand the differences between
the Christian founding principles of our nation,
and the communist principles of the Chinese
government. We must pray that is not a futile
hope on our part.

A thought provoking new version of the
Declaration of Independence, submitted to
one of our senior advisors by his nephew, under
the title "The Liberal Declaration of Dependence."

"WE hold our Opinions to be self-evident, that
all Life-forms should be kept equal, that they
are endowed by the evolutionary process with
certain un-undocumentable Rights, that
among these are Death, Taxes, and the '
guarantee of Happiness (or the equal
distribution of Misery) -- That to secure these
Rights, Governments are instituted among the
Elite, deriving their arrogantly unjust Powers
from the Forced Consent of the Governed, that
whenever any Form of Government becomes
conducive to these Ends, it is the Obligation of
the People to tough it out and like it, and to
Support the new Government, which lays no
Foundation on any Principles whatsoever, nor
organizing its Powers with any Form, which
to them shall seem most likely to create the
Illusion of Safety, saving them from Imminent
Demise... But when a long Train of Abuses and
Usurpations, regardless of who might Object,
evinces a Design to reduce them under absolute
Despotism, it is their Right, it is their Duty, to
Embrace such Government, and to welcome
these new Obligations regardless for their future
Insecurity...." (Signed: Jeff Gaddy)

We have continued to ask Christians to pray
for our nation and for President Obama. In
support of this request we remind our readers of
Paul's instruction in this regard: "I exhort therefore,
that, first of all, supplications, prayers,
intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for
all men; for kings and for all that are in authority,
that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in
all godliness and honesty. For this is good and
acceptable in the sight of God our Savior."
(1 Timothy 2:1-3) And let us never cease to pray
for our brothers and sisters in the Christian faith
who are experiencing persecution -- often unto
death -- for their faith in Christ in so many parts
of the world where Islam and other pagan beliefs
dominate the daily life of Christian believers.

A word of counsel from a Founding Father:
"No people will tamely surrender their Liberties,
nor can any be easily subdued, when knowledge
is diffused and Virtue is preserved. On the
Contrary, when People are universally ignorant,
and debauched in their Manners, they will sink
under their own weight without the Aid of
foreign Invaders." -- Samuel Adams, 1775


Some Random Afterthoughts . . .


We can't seem to help it: more "one liners"

"Conservative politicians believe they are elected
to serve. Liberal politicians think they were
elected to rule." (From Letters to the Editor,
Deseret News)

"'Washington is broken,' said Barack Obama
while on the campaign trail -- and now that he's
safely in office, he's busy making it worse. Much
worse." (Tom Winter, Editor, Human Events)

"Make no mistake: catastrophic climate change
represents a threat to human security, global
stability, and -- yes -- even to American national
security." (Senator John Kerry)

"If you want to test your memory, try to recall
what you were worrying about one year ago
today." (E. Joseph Cossman)

In case you hadn't noticed: The nation's jobless
rate has hit a 26-year high at 9.7%, against the
administration's estimate of 8%. More than
200,000 jobs were lost last month. Yet the White
House continues to claim its stimulus legislation
is working. When will this charade end? But not
all statistics are rising -- as one after another of
the performance approval ratings for President
Obama continue to slide, even the venerable
Gallup poll has now fallen to near 50%. Slipping
below 50% before November of the first year in
office would represent “the third-fastest drop”
since World War II, Gallup reports. Republican
Gerald Ford slipped below 50% in his third month,
and Democrat Bill Clinton during his fourth month.
President Obama is well on his way to a prominent
place in the record books.

The president's speech to the nation's schools,
much talked about and much criticized, is over,
and in a manner of speaking, "the jury is still out"
on the effectiveness of the speech. On balance,
the prevailing opinion is that could have been
worse. We did learn about him having home
schooling in Indonesia, with no mention of his
attendance in Muslim schools. There will be much
said in the days ahead, but in the meantime we
should reflect on the historical views of the
nation's Founding Fathers on this subject.
This is how American education began.

The Founding Fathers had strong views
on the nation's education . . . beginning with
George Washington, who said in 1779, “What
students would learn in American schools above
all is the religion of Jesus Christ.”

And Samuel Adams in 1790 spoke of the need
"to renovate the age by impressing the minds of
men with the importance of educating their little
boys and girls, inculcating in the minds of youth
the fear and love of the Deity… and leading them
in the study and practice of the exalted virtues of
the Christian system.”

Benjamin Franklin, in his 1749 plan for public
schools in Pennsylvania, insisted that the schools
teach "the excellency of the Christian religion
above all others, ancient or modern." In 1787
when he founded Benjamin Franklin University,
it was dedicated as "a nursery of religion and
learning, built on Christ, the Cornerstone."

And Benjamin Rush in 1790 wrote,“By
withholding the knowledge of the Scriptures
from children, we deprive ourselves of the best
means of awakening moral sensibility in their
minds."

But we seem to have gone a long way from what
the men who founded this nation and wrote the
Constitution's Bill of Rights, had in mind for the
education of our children. Of course, in those
days they didn't have the ACLU to contend with.

THE MAJOR CONFLICT IS BETWEEN CHRISTIANITY & ISLAM

`




AMONG TODAY'S WORLD RELIGIONS,
THE MAJOR CONFLICT IS BETWEEN
CHRISTIANITY AND ISLAM

It isn't much of a stretch of memory for any of
us to recall that in October, 2007, a group of
Islamic scholars sent a lengthy message to
Christians in various countries of the world, titled
"A Common Word Between Us and You." In
America, under the sponsorship of the ultra-
Liberal Yale Divinity School, a lengthy response
was sent to the Islamics, titled, "Loving God
and Neighbor Together: A Christian Response
to A Common Word Between Us and You."

Ultimately some 300 American Christian leaders
signed the Yale document, including several so-
called "Evangelicals." Some of those signatories
-- for example, the President of Wheaton College
-- later had the courage to admit their error, and
withdrew their names.

We have neither the time nor the space to
comment on either of those two documents in
detail. That exchange of thoughts can perhaps
best be described as a philosophical attempt to
merge oil and water. The Muslim Islamists got
in the first claims, and the American "Christians"
bought into their reasoning. For example, the
American response offered agreement in these
words, "It is no exaggeration to say as you have
in 'A Common Word Between Us and You" that
'the future of the world depends on peace
between Muslims and Christians.'"

The left-leaning "Christians" expressed a desire
to work together with the Islamists, at one point
going so far as to say, "If we fail to make every
effort to make peace and come together in
harmony, you correctly remind us that 'our
eternal souls' are at stake as well." You have to
wonder what kind of eternal salvation these
Liberal "Christians" believe in.

Even today, almost two years after the supposedly
significant exchange of exploratory documents
between Islamists and Christians, there are some
Christians -- even some calling themselves
"Evangelicals" -- who are urging cooperation and
joint efforts with Islamists. Yet those who claim
to be Evangelicals apparently have never read the
teachings of the Quran ... that Jesus was not the
Son of God ... that believing in the Trinity is a
grievous error ... that Jesus was just a messenger
and like other prophets who had come before ...
that He was not crucified, but another died in His
stead ... there was no need for a Savior because
men are sinless ... and more clearly, that Muslims
are commanded to kill infidels, the unbelievers,
and that Muslims must never take Jews or Christians
as friends, but rather are instructed to fight them
and to humiliate them.

We are all too familiar with ongoing current reports
from Pakistan, Nigeria, Laos and other Muslim
dominated areas where Christians are being killed
and abused, their churches burned, their pastors
beheaded and hacked to death by Muslims in the
name of Allah. Is this a religion of peace, and one
with which we as Christians can cooperate and
work together?

And yet, this fact must be faced, that Islam has
already grown to become a religion second in
size only to Christianity in the world. It is now
expanding far beyond the former Arab nations
into the Western world and across Europe --
even into Great Britain -- and in nation after
nation is making tremendous strides in introducing
and demanding acceptance of their laws, religious
beliefs and social customs. A similar growth,
although to date not at such a rapid pace, is
taking place in America.

A point of interest: in last week's issue we
noted the beginning of the month-long Muslim
observance of Ramadan, currently in progress.
It is interesting, and somewhat dismaying, that
President Obama prepared a 5 minute video of
greeting to the Muslim world on the observance
of Ramadan. For the recent National Day of
Prayer here in America, in which former
presidents have actively participated -- he
ignored it. Somewhere in that sort of response,
there is reason for serious concern on the part
of American Christians.

This week we're not commenting at length
on "Obamacare." Enough has already been
said and demonstrated by American voters to
prove that they don't want it ... seniors don't
want it ... doctors don't want it ... hospitals don't
want it... the Christian Church, Protestant or
Catholic doesn't want it. Like "Hillarycare"
which preceded it some 15 years ago, it is the
wrong answer to an existing problem. But the
ruling Obama administration, aided and abetted
by some members of the Pelosi-Reid controlled
Congress, does seem determined to force this
disastrous concept on the American people.

Writing in New Media Journal, Dr. Laurie Roth
noted: "It didn’t take but moments after Senator
Kennedy died that Pelosi and others started
talking about the resurrected health care bill
they plan to push. Now, magically, it will be
the Kennedy Health Care bill." And in similar
vein, A.J. DiCintio added, "Regarding the
current healthcare debate, it is inarguable that
to cover the entirety of The Bad and The Ugly
alone, one needs to write more pages than
those that make up the bill Obama et al have
been incubating in congressional backrooms ...
What to do, then, except to conscientiously
limit this piece, an endeavor that not only gives
emphasis to a few very important details but
also displays a keen sensitivity to politicians
so brutally overworked that they can’t find time
to read bills they insist are absolutely essential
for the nation’s well being."

And aside from the following news report on the
Obama controlled media, how could we add
anything to this ongoing debate on "Obamacare?"

"ABC & NBC have refused to run a national
ad critical of President Obama's health care
reform plan that features a doctor who warns
that a government-run health care system will
lead to rationing and harm Medicare."

Apparently some of our First Amendment rights
are being usurped by those in power -- something
we thought could never happen.

Among all the problems besetting this nation,
we have not commented at length on the
seriousness of the tremendous national debt the
Obama administration is incurring. Last week's
admission by the White House was frightening,
that the national debt will increase over the next
decade by $9 trillion to nearly $21 trillion, or some
$2 trillion more than their estimate of just six
months ago. The upcoming explosions in the
costs of Medicare and Social Security because
of the retirement of so many "baby boomers,"
plus the proposed reform of the health care
system and the forced shift to more costly
forms of energy will add multi-trillion dollars to
our nation's deficit. Just to deal with these
unheard-of deficits may help kill our nation's
economy. But the Obama administration
proposes more and more spending, with no
end in sight. The obvious fact is that for the
first time in our nation's history, in plain and
simple language, America is close to being broke.

A Founding Father's view of national debt:
"To say that the United States should be
answerable for twenty-five millions of dollars
without knowing whether the ways and means
can be provided, and without knowing whether
those who are to succeed us will think with us
on the subject, would be rash and unjustifiable.
Sir, in my opinion, it would be hazarding the
public faith in a manner contrary to every idea
of prudence." (James Madison, 1788) Obviously,
such sensible thinking has now been abandoned
-- and at what cost!

In each issue we have included a request for
prayer by American Christians for our nation,
and for our leaders, particularly that God would
give to President Obama wisdom in dealing with
the many responsibilities he faces, and that
America might remain in the eyes of the world of
nations, the example of a Christian nation it has
always been. As Christian believers, that is our
responsibility. Let us not fail in these difficult times.

A Founding Father's quote on character:
"Liberty cannot be preserved without a general
knowledge among the people, who have a right,
an indisputable, unalienable, indefeasible,
divine right to that most dreaded and envied
kind of knowledge, I mean the character and
conduct of their rulers." - John Adams, 1816


Some Random Afterthoughts . . .


A word of warning and encouragement.
It is one thing to point out problems arising from
actions of our government, and to complain
about them, but it is quite a different thing to
suggest a way to deal with and solve those
problems. We have often provided a Capitol
switchboard number through which you can
reach your Congress-people or Senators while
Congress is in session. But now they are on
recess, and are back in their home districts,
close to you. Before they return to Washington
to vote on important bills like Health Care
Reform, and repealing the Defense of Marriage
Act, and passing of a Freedom of Choice Act
to increase access to abortions -- take just a few
minutes to call them, while they are at home,
and express your views to them. That is your
right, and your privilege. By the way, out of
curiosity, how many of our readers have ever
made even one such call? We look forward to
receiving such a report from you.

As always, here are a few "one-liners" ...
"Truth is incontrovertible, ignorance can deride
it, panic may resent it, malice may destroy it,
but there it is." (Sir Winston Churchill)

"President Barack Obama has run into a brick
wall: the American people, who cherish their
liberty and revere their nation and do not want
it remade in Obama's socialist image."
(David Limbaugh)

"Let's face it: Making money in Obama's
America is about to get harder -- keeping it,
harder still." (Ann Coulter)

"People don't realize the extent to which
cronyism, corruption, 'business as usual' have
been brought from Chicago to the Potomac."
(Michelle Malkin.)

We don't charge any subscription fee, or
solicit contributions, or sell anything, like books,
T-shirts, baseball caps or coffee mugs. But
every now and then we see the announcement
of a new book that intrigues us. This week's title
is "Born to Lie: from the Birth Certificate
to Health Care," by Dr. David Goetsch and Dr.
Archer Jones. The advertising slogan used to
promote the book was: "From the missing birth
certificate to health care, can America trust her
President to tell the truth?" Sounds like it might
be interesting Summer reading.

In case you're still wondering about Al
Gore's "Global Warming" crusade, John
Casey, the Director of the Space and Science
Research Center (SSRC) in Orlando, Florida,
has issued a new prediction of the next climate
change intended as a warning to the American
people and their leadership in Washington:“The
climate change predictions which I started to
pass out to our government and media in early
2007 based upon the ‘RC Theory’ have now
come to pass, exactly as forecast. Global
warming has ended, as predicted... The new
cold climate will usher in global travail that
will be amplified specifically because of the
catastrophic climate change policies of the
administration of President Barack Obama
that will leave most citizens unprepared.”

Director Casey added, “The most frequent
question I am asked is how soon will it get
cold and just how cold?... My most recent
calculations, just completed, indicate that
global temperatures approaching 100 year
cold weather records will begin to set in any
year now but certainly between 2012 and
2017." Mr. Gore is going to have to act quickly
to protect his theory from total oblivion.

An upcoming change in a national day of
remembrance. There have been in our national
history, some significant disasters of international
origin. In 1836, the heroic stand of the vastly
outnumbered American forces at the Alamo,
before ultimate defeat by Mexican General Santa
Ana, became a rallying cry for the young nation:
"Remember the Alamo." In 1941 the attack on
our naval base in Hawaii by the Japanese, became
another national rallying cry: "Remember Pearl
Harbor." On September 11, 2001 the Muslim
terrorist attack on our nation's East coast, killing
thousands and wreaking severe economic toll,
has been remembered simply as "9/11" and the
destroyed World Trade Center has become a
hallowed spot for this generation of patriotic
Americans. But all that is about to change. In
April of this year, President Obama, in what
appears to be calculated, cynical political attempt
to revise the meaning of "9/11," signed into law
a measure to erase the memory of the Muslim
terrorist attack, and henceforth consider
September 11 as a "National Day of Service,"
a leftist celebration instead of a day of
remembrance and national patriotism. A national
day of service may be an appropriate way to
celebrate 9/11, if it is service that strengthens our
liberty and freedom. But what appears to be
planned is to use the day to promote the concept
of "green jobs" and other projects on the agenda
of the president. This partisan political plan blurs
the importance of remembering what happened
in the Muslim terrorist attack on 9/11. Quite a far
cry from the campaign slogan of "Change you
can believe in."

A Founding Father's word on one basic
principle of this nation: "The highest glory of
the American Revolution was this; it connected
in one indissoluble bond the principles of civil
government with the principles of Christianity."
-- John Quincy Adams, 1821