Wednesday
POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS ARE BACK
THE POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS ARE BACK IN
THE NEWS, AND THERE ARE OTHER
ITEMS OF INTEREST TO US
First, let’s consider the election issues: This
week’s two primaries went somewhat as predicted,
with Hillary Clinton barely taking a win in Indiana
– but with a much smaller margin of victory than all
predictions indicated – by only 2 percentage points –
far less than the double-digit win she had expected to
have. And in North Carolina, Barack Obama’s win was
by a larger margin than most had predicted, by about
14 percentage points. From the two primaries Obama,
had a total of about 1,505,000 votes against Clinton’s
1,295,000 votes. But still with no sign of giving up by
Clinton, the race will continue through 6 more primary
elections before the campaign ends on June 3.
"Is a puzzlement." One recalls the words of Yul
Brynner in "The King and I" when trying to balance
candidate Hillary Clinton’s promise to end the war in
Iraq and bring the troops home, with her bellicose
threat to Iran that the US could "totally obliterate"
them if they attacked Israel. Sounds more like John
McCain than McCain himself. The Iranian response
was that her words were both "provocative and
irresponsible," and were "a flagrant violation" of
the UN charter – whatever that means.
since at this time each year the major church denominations
have their annual meetings. In mid-June the Southern
Baptist Convention, the nation’s largest Protestant
church, will meet in Indianapolis. Then in July/August
the world-wide Anglican Communion will convene the
every-ten-year Lambeth Conference in Canterbury,
at which time the divisions within the American
Episcopal Church over the issues of homosexuality
will be a major topic for discussion. Just a week ago
the United Methodist Church in America made its
decision to maintain the language in its rules that
homosexual activity is "incompatible with Christian
teaching." And on that subject, the Presbyterian
Church USA by action of its highest court, cleared the
Rev. Jane Adams Spahr of misconduct in performing
same-sex marriages on the grounds that unions
between two women are not marriages, and ruled
that the lower court "found Spahr guilty of doing
that which be definition cannot be done." Seems to
be a classic example of convoluted logic.
TIME Magazine has done it again! This week’s
issue (May 12) features the magazine’s fifth annual
list naming the "100 Most Influential People in
the World." The list is as remarkable for the names
included, as for those which are not included. As an
example, the only religious figures included are the
Dalai Lama, Bartholomew I of the Eastern Orthodox
Church and Muqtada Al-Sadr, the Iraqi Islamic Shiite.
No Protestant Christian, no Roman Catholic Pope. At
times like this we miss Billy Graham, Jerry Falwell,
James Kennedy and John Paul II. Included was
athlete Lance Armstrong, but no Tiger Woods. George
Mitchell but no Jimmy Carter. Hillary Clinton but no
Bill Clinton. Tony Blair but no Al Gore. And the only
person included in all five of TIME’s annual lists is
Oprah Winfrey. Of the 500 names in all those years,
only 48 have been on the lists more than once. But
George W. Bush and China’s Hu Jintao have each
appeared 4 times, more than any other world leaders.
Still, it would have been nice to think that one, just
one, active Evangelical Christian Believer was of some
influence in the world.
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With all the presidential election activity, have
you ever wondered what kind of a person American
people really want to be their leader? The American
Bible Society commissioned a Zogby poll of likely
voters, and discovered that the majority want one
who reflects Biblical ideals of leadership. Truth and
and integrity were rated as most important. 60% favor
a candidate who follows the examples of leaders from
the Bible. 78% viewed as positive a president citing
Scripture when addressing political positions. Nearly
nearly 50% said they would not vote for a candidate
who did not believe in God. Overall, they want a
leader who demonstrates accountability to God. Not
a bad list to take into the voting booth on election day.
A word from a Founding Father:"Suppose a
nation in some distant Region should take the Bible
for their only law book, and every member should
regulate his conduct by the precepts there exhibited;
what a utopia, what a paradise would that Region
be." – John Adams, second President, and the first
to occupy the White House. During his first stay there
he wrote to his wife: "I pray Heaven to bestow the
best of Blessings on this House and all that shall
hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise
men ever rule under this roof." (November, 1800)
A few random thoughts . . .
Don’t ignore world demographics. The National
Policy Institute has blended the figures of fertility
rates with the various races and continents on our
planet, and have come up with some interesting
projections for the year 2060. For example, in 1950
whites represented 28% of the world’s population
and Africans represented 9%. In 2060, it is projected
that those rates will remain about the same, but will
be reversed. People of African origin will represent
25% of the world’s population, and those of European
origin will represent 9.8%. Here in America the
Hispanic population will triple to 127 million – and
an erasure of the traditional border between the US
and Mexico seems likely, with Mexico annexing the
current American Southwest. Since the year 2000
whites have lost their former share of the voting age
population in California, dropping from 51.9% in
2000 to about 47% in 2007. Remember Bob Dylan’s
song of the ‘60s: "The times they are a-changin."
An example of "multicultural equivalency."
Our State Department has yielded to pressure from
Muslim interests, and certain words are now banned.
Included are terms like "Jihadist ...Islamic terrorist...
Islamofascist...Islamo-facism...Holy warrior." A
similar list of terms was distributed to diplomatic
circles in Britain and the European Union last year.
We are waiting for the approved descriptive term
for suicide bombers; presumably the term "homicide
bomber" would be considered offensive.
It isn’t just in America that the Boy Scouts have
trouble – they’re also under attack in Great Britain,
but not by the ACLU. There the British Humanist
Association and the National Secular Society have
led the attack, but the grounds are the same – in
Britain the Scout Oath includes the pledge to "do
their best to do their duty to God and the Queen."
As in this country, the scouts in Britain are being
labeled "discriminatory." Historically, both nations
used to put God first, but in the ongoing decline
into a secular society, the old beliefs have changed.
Don’t throw away your winter coats, at least
not any time soon. And wherever Al Gore is, someone
should call his attention to the fact that all his
"Global Warming" followers have come face-to-face
with some contrary facts, as reported by Christopher
Booker in the London Telegraph on May 4. Note these
few excerpts: "Two weeks ago, as North America
emerged from its coldest and snowiest winter for
decades, the US National Climate Data Center ...
issued a statement that snow cover in January on
the Eurasian land mass had been the most extensive
ever recorded ... On April 24 the World Wildlife Fund
published a study warning the Arctic sea ice was
melting ...[but] by March the ice had recovered to
14 million sq km, and that ice cover... was at its
highest level ever recorded ... At the same time
Antarctic sea ice cover was also at its highest-ever
level." So let’s keep those winter coats handy!
Time proven words to remember: "My concern
is not whether God is on our side; my greatest
concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always
right." – Abraham Lincoln
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