American News Commentary

There is a long list of socially, politically and even

religiously accepted "in-words," and perhaps the

most useful and understandable is "worldview." The

use of the term "understandable" may be a bit extreme.

This seems such a simple word, until you attempt to

define or explain it.

The American Heritage Dictionary (3rd edition, 1992)

defines it as: "The overall perspective from which

individual or a group." Dr. James Sire, a recognized

Christian speaker and author of several Intervarsity

Christian Fellowship books defines our word as, "a set

and suggests that "we should all think in terms of

Not quite as simple as might be thought, but in its

present, everyday use by Evangelical Christians it has

come to be a goal for international Christian witness --

we should have a world view, and a concern for

those beyond our national shores who need to hear

the Gospel in line with the Great Commission of

Jesus Christ.

At the present moment we have ample opportunity

to adopt and demonstrate our own personal worldview.

There are at least two major disasters affecting

hundreds of thousands of people -- in Myanmar

(Burma) the number of dead nears 100,000, with other

thousands still missing, and with millions homeless,

without shelter, food, water or medical care, and

a heartless despotic government impeding the relief

assistance from countries all over the world. In China

one earthquake follows another, with deaths in the

75,000 range, and the number of buildings destroyed

beyond comprehension, and despite massive efforts

by the government, the task is fast becoming impossible.

Aside from giving to relief agencies who can provide

help, we should hold both of these disasters and the

people affected by them in our prayers for God to help

those who are in such desperate need.

And even within our own nation, tornado destruction,

and the accompanying loss of lives is very real in Iowa,

Minnesota, Oklahoma and throughout the center of

America. Again our gifts and prayers are needed.

One recalls the old motto for fulfilling the Great

Commission: "Some can go . . . others can give . . .

Memorial Day, 2008. We began this week with the

national observance date for Memorial Day when we

remember the members of the nation's military who

have given their lives in defense of our country. One

remembrance message posted on the Internet reminded

us of those who were killed in action in recent wars:

WWI, 1917-1918: 116,516; WWII, 1940-1945:

405,339; Korean War, 1950-1953: 36,568; Viet Nam

War, 1964-1975: 58,203; First Gulf War, 1990-1991:

382; Iraq Freedom War, 2005 - present: 4082. Our

prayers for our military personnel should not be limited

to one day each year, but should be ongoing, as part

of our Christian worldview.

And if the Memorial Day observances stirred your

patriotic feeling, click on this link for a great musical treat:

Defense of Marriage, traditional marriage, that is:

In 1996 President Bill Clinton signed into law the federal

Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defines

marriage as a legal union between one man and one

woman, and provides that states need not recognize a

marriage from another state between persons of the

same sex. 40 states have their own DOMA, and 26

states have similar definitions of marriage as amendments

to their constitution. To date only two states --

Massachusetts and California -- have by court action

made same-sex marriage legal. In California there is

intense action under way to put the marriage amendment

on the November ballot, which would over-rule the court

action. It is interesting that California Governor Arnold

Schwarzenegger has put state income above traditional

marriage by stating last week: "I'm wishing everyone

is going to come here and get married." The Federal

and State DOMAs follow the teaching of Jesus, "From

and father and cleave to his wife." (Mark 10: 6-7)

Among our presidential candidates, opinions vary.

Senator Obama wrote to the lesbian, gay, bisexual,

transsexual (LGBT) community earlier this year,

that statute altogether." Senator Clinton has favored

repeal of part of DOMA, as explained by Ethan Gato,

her senior national adviser, "As several states have

relationships are unfair." On the other side, Senator

McCain voted for DOMA, and last week said on

national TV, "I just believe in the unique status of

marriage between man and woman..." Good facts

to remember when we vote in November.

And from a Founding Father: "The general

existence and attributes of God." --John Adams,

July 4, 1776

Al Gore's theory is still in the news, but not with any

increased support. Joe Bastardi, the senior meteorologist

at AccuWeather.com says that supposed man-made

catastrophic global warming cannot be blamed for any

unusual weather event. Recently Al Gore blamed the

Myanmar cyclone on global warming. Bastardi refutes

that claim, "No, the Indian Ocean temperatures

And Mr. Gore was in the news yet again -- this

time because last week he received a $1 million prize

from Tel Aviv University in Israel for alerting the world

to the "crisis" from overuse of fossil fuels. It's difficult

to understand and believe.

An Anglican priest active for evangelism -- Paul

Eddy (make a note of that name) is a priest-in-training

and a member of the Anglican General Synod. He has

made this assertion, "Both Christianity and Islam are

share the Gospel of Jesus Christ." He has gained so

much support that his call to evangelize the lost will be

debated at the next Synod meeting. Some British church

officials fear that proclaiming the Gospel publicly and

boldly will cause a backlash. This young man may start

a revolution in an otherwise lethargic church.

Watch out for "Media-bias." Robert Knight, former

Los Angeles Times news editor, points out some of the

examples of "media bias." In the case of the present

marriage issue, Conservatives speak of "natural marriage,"

or "biblical marriage," and some more objective reporters

use the term "traditional marriage." But the medis uses

headlines ike "Gay Marriage Ban Upheld" -- giving out

position a negative connotation. The same type of bias

appears elsewhere -- prostitutes are now called

"undocumented sex workers;" abortion is called

"reproductive choice," and illegal aliens are called

"undocumented immigrants." The one good aspect is that

when you start reading their accounts you know at once

which side they are on.

found in the Word of God." - Woodrow Wilson, President

1913-1921

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Vol. 10, No. 20 May 14, 2008 © 2008

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WHERE TO START? THERE ARE SO MANY
ISSUES IN THE NEWS WHICH MERIT
OUR INTEREST AND CONCERN


First , and let’s get it out of the way – there was
yesterday’s Democrat primary election in West Virginia.

Almost minutes after the polls closed, the various news
media announced that they had projected Hillary Clinton
as the winner. That decision was not unexpected. Barack
Obama campaigned only lightly in West Virgina, early
conceding the state to Clinton. The overall delegate count
remains relatively the same after a net gain of 10 for
Clinton with Obama well ahead of her at every level.

Now five more primaries remain, winding up on June 3.

Speculation as to the outcome has so many possibilities.
Will Hillary concede and give up? Will Hillary take the
issue all the way to the convention? Will Obama make a
serious mistake and blow his currently apparent victory?

Only time will tell, and the battle continues with Kentucky
and Oregon the next conflict sites on May 20. Until then,
as the old saying goes: "Stay tuned."

Not because of its great importance, but the release last
week of the "Evangelical Manifesto" does merit some
consideration. One is reminded of the comment by Orson
Welles in the film "The Third Man," where he said that
Italy after 30 years of war, terror and bloodshed under the
Borgias produced Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo,

while Switzerland after 500 years of brotherly love, peace
and democracy, produced the cuckoo clock. Here after what
the "Manifesto" principal drafter, Os Guinness, claims was
3 years of work, the "Steering Committee" of 9 members
has produced a 20 page essay which is essentially a political
document (although that is a distinction they strongly claim
to condemn) strategically released in Washington, DC
during the final days of the year’s (to date) most active
national political campaign. It is unquestionably another
divisive factor in the already fractured American

Conservative Christian community, coming as it does when
there is an obvious jockeying for leadership positions in that
world. There is an over-abundance of words to define a
simple concept, but it is true that the term "Evangelical"has
been misused and abused. The sponsors are too young to
have known at first hand the complex situation from which
the "Evangelical" concept emerged in the early years of the
twentieth century. Guinness himself was only 10 years of
age in 1951 when he first left his birth country, China, to
live in Great Britain. There is no bibliography to indicate
that any historical research was done in drafting the paper.

There is no acknowledged awareness of Carl Henry’s
definitive text on this subject,"The Uneasy Conscience
of Modern Fundamentalism," published in 1947. It is of
interest that Guinness manages to include much of the
premise of his own book, "The Case for Civility," by
restating his case for a "civil public square" as opposed to
a "naked" public square on one side and a "sacred" public
square on the other. Criticisms of the "Manifesto" from
thoughtful Conservative Christians – real "Evangelicals" –
are beginning to increase. It is to be hoped that this exercise
in the use of the English language will quickly fade away
without doing any serious damage to the Christian cause.

However, given the anti-Christian bias of so much of the
nation’s media, this exclusive and excluding document will
conceivably be used to prove that there is a serious division
among American Christian believers. Any such division is,
as in this instance, between Conservatives and Liberals,
which should not be unexpected, for Jesus warned us in
Matthew 24, "... false prophets ... will deceive many ...
even the very elect ..."

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Sometime we have cause to wonder: are we a nation of
laws? The media has made much of two recent events: (1)
the polygamous cult in Texas and the apparent sexual abuse
of minor children, resulting in the removal of hundreds of
children from the cult’s headquarters, and (b) the massive
"drug bust" uncovered by federal agencies on the campus of
San Diego State University in California. (1) With respect
to the separatist group from the main Mormon Church, state
officials acted to protect minor children and moved them
into temporary foster care facilities while the investigation
into the details of the case goes forward. The leader of the
cult, Warren Jeffs, regarded as a "prophet" among its
10,000 members, is currently serving a 10 year sentence

for rape in a Utah penitentiary. Meanwhile the ACLU has
weighed in on the side of the cultists. But if the law in
Texas labels a sexual act by an adult upon a minor child as
unlawful, one has to wonder why the state’s action is so
wrong. (2) In the California university case, the district
attorney has arrested more than 100 individuals for
engaging in the unlawful use of drugs, both for possession
and intent to distribute. Initially approximately 75 were
listed as students; later counts raised that number to 95,
while the University maintains the number of students
involved is only 33. A faculty member in political science,
and head of the faculty union, Carole Kennedy, was upset
that the president "unilaterally" allowed federal agents to
gather evidence about student drug use on the campus.

Again the question arises: if drug use and sale is unlawful,
why is what the federal agents did so wrong, and why
shouldn’t the students be subject to the discipline of the
law? The ACLU hasn’t showed up yet, but their action
to intervene would not be a surprise.

Our Founding Fathers were concerned about children:
"The foundation of national morality must be laid in
private families ... How is it possible the children can
have any just sense of the sacred Obligations of Morality
or Religion if, from their earliest infancy, they learn their
mothers live in habitual Infidelity to their fathers, and
their fathers in as constant Infidelity to their mothers?"

– John Adams, from his diary, June 2, 1778