American News Commentary

WE MUST HAVE HIT A NERVE in last week's
issue, if we are to judge from the responses we have
received. Most were emphatically in agreement with
the viewpoint we expressed, and apparently feel even
more strongly than we do about what is happening to
the America we used to know. As a result, we are
more than ever persuaded that this is no time to quit!
Our nation is worth reclaiming! Share your thoughts
with us at: american_news_2008@yahoo.com
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SOMETIMES OUR FRIENDS IN AUSTRALIA
DESCRIBE THE PREVAILING SITUATION
MORE CLEARLY THAN ANYONE ELSE

First, this brief essay which is prompted by excerpts
from an address before the Parliament of New South
Wales, Australia, on April 15 by Dr Stuart Piggin,
Director of the Centre for the History of Christian
Thought and Experience. at Macquarie University --
a man recognized as probably Australia's premier
Christian scholar.

After referring to a recent statement by an Anglican
Bishop that Australia is the best and last hope to be
a Christian democracy, with the greatest chance to
show the world what a Christian democracy should
look like, he made this perceptive analysis: "America
has blown its opportunity of showing to the world
what a Christian democracy should be like by
mistaking its military might and material power
for the blessing of God. America's great problem
is that it has used its spiritual capital to Americanize
Christianity rather than to Christianize America."

He went on to explain that Europe has already given
up its opportunity to show the world what Christian
democracies should be like by failing to even identify
Christianity as being part of its heritage in the new
constitution of the European Community. It prefers
to observe the heritage of reason over its Christian
heritage. Much like America, Europe has secularized
Christianity rather than Christianizing secularism.

Dr. Piggin is correct in his conclusions, of course,
and accurately describes the problem we face here
in America -- we have "Americanized Christianity"
instead of "Christianizing America." However,
he makes a commonly occurring error in portraying
America as a democracy. Even Hillary Clinton, our
Secretary of State erred -- quite seriously for one in
her position -- when in speaking last week to the
European Parliament, she said that she had: "never
understood multiparty democracy... I feel the same
way about our own democracy, which has been
around a lot longer than European democracy."

The localized error in that statement did not go over
well with her European audience, because Europe
has always been considered to be the birthplace of
democracy -- specifically Athens in ancient Greece,
where a form of government called "demokratia"
was instituted approximately 500 years BC.

The other error in her statement was the assumption
that the United States is a "democracy." Such a term
is never used in the Declaration of Independence, or
in the Constitution, where in Article IV, Section 4,
these words appear: "The United States shall
guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican
Form of Government.." It is true that we observe
certain democratic practices in elections. etc., but
we are and always have been, not a democracy,
but a constitutional republic. Recall the Pledge of
Allegiance, which specifically mentions the flag
"and the republic for which it stands."

It has been said that Democrats (liberals) like to blur
the distinction between a republic and a democracy.
They want voters to think that their party's name
"Democrat" equates to a democracy, rather than for
those voters to equate the party name "Republican"
to a republic.

But the challenge before us as Christians remains
for us to Christianize America, rather than to permit
the present trend to continue -- in the guise of
"progress" -- to Americanize Christianity.

On a strictly temporal basis, we have just reached
the 100th day of the Obama presidency -- and it has
become an American custom to make an evaluation of
a new president's performance at the 100 day mark.
In the present instance, it is very difficult to arrive at a
consensus opinion on President Obama's performance.
There are too many elements in so many undertakings
to achieve such an evaluation with any degree of
unanimity.

If you rely on polls for developing such an opinion,
overall they are favorable . . . and pretty much the
same as for the past three presidents' poll ratings on
their first 100 days. Obama's performance index, as
measured by the Rasmussen daily surveys, has been
decreasing steadily from the January Inauguration
Day, when it was around +20, to the lowest level to
date -- reached last weekend -- at +2, and is hovering
around +4 or +5 today.

(By comparison, other surveys place American voters
opinion of Congress at: 34% approving, with 59%
disapproving. For House Speaker Nancy Pelosi the
approval rating is 35% and disapproval 60%. And for
Senator Harry Reid, his approval rating is 29% and his
disapproval rating 45%.)

Among the most important events in the first 100
days of the Obama presidency was the series of TEA
Parties ("Taxed Enough Already") which attracted
more than a million participants earlier this month.
Despite the strong efforts of most of the media to
suppress the news coverage of the events, word did
get out, and this true "grass-root" effort will likely see
many similar events across the country yet this year --
already announcements are appearing of more such
observances being planned for July 4. In spite of the
ignoring and belittling by the administration and the
elite media, the right of American citizens to exercise
their freedom of expression cannot be denied them.

Although the President is generally considered to be
the best informed person in the world, when these
TEA Day observances were taking place on tax day,
April 15, his press secretary, the usually glib Robert
Gibbs, said the president was "unaware" of those
events. The reason for this lack of knowledge was
based on the "busyness" in which he was involved at
that time, including his overseas trips when -- among
other activities -- he bowed humbly before King
Abdullah of Saudi Arabia .. he engaged in a weird
finger-linking greeting with avowed Communist
President Chavez of Venezuela (who called Obama
an "ignoramus") ... he sent entreating "outreach"
messages to Israel's and the West's avowed nemesis,
Iran's President Ahmadinejad ... he made warm and
friendly overtures to Cuba's dictator Raul Castro,,,
and apologized to America's friends and enemies
for our "arrogance" and "divisiveness."

As for President Obama's apology to Europeans for
America's "arrogance," he can probably be forgiven
for his lack of understanding of the facts of history
because he is too young to have experienced World
War II. That war marked the second time in the 20th
century that America stepped in to save Europe and
the world from the savage onslaughts of German
nationalism -- at a cost in American lives of over
520,000 (that's more than a half million) ... with over
400,000 in World War II alone. As the son of a
World War II veteran commented a few days ago,
"Americans need not apologize to the world for
their arrogance; rather, Americans should
apologize to their forefathers for the arrogance
of their president."

But enough of the 100 days of Obama-phobia. The
facts, or approximations thereof, can and will be
interpreted to fit the preconceived notions of the users.
Already the Internet, and some publications are
displaying editorial type cartoons which portray
President Obama with a halo, signifying his deification
in the minds of his followers. Another shows him riding
up to the White House seated on an ass, as Jesus
entered Jerusalem. And yet another one, by artist
Michael D'Antuono, titled "The Truth," and showing
Obama with his arms outstretched in front of the
Presidential Seal, and wearing a crown of thorns on
his head, is being displayed today in New York City's
Union Square. This is the same Barack Obama whose
supporters anointed him as "The One," and who
boasted in his nomination victory speech on June 3,
2008 that his election would be remembered as "the
moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow
and our planet began to heal." Not quite so
messianic is the Los Angeles Times portrayal of him
as "the nation's first 'hip' president."

Obviously, our responsibility, as Christians, continues
to be to Christianize America , and not to encourage
the present trend toward Americanizing, or moreso,
Obamizing Christianity. Regardless of what some of
his more gullible followers may think, he is not the
Messiah, he is not the Savior of the United States or
of the world. At the moment, at this 100 day point
in time, his anti-Christian plans and proposals appear
to make our task more difficult, but the promise of
the Word of God is true, that "greater is he that is
in you than he that is in the world." (I John 4:4)

In the news today, and claiming the most attention,
is the current "Swine flu" epidemic, now centered
in Mexico where more than 1,600 cases have been
reported with 175 deaths, followed by 150 cases
in America, still with no confirmed deaths, but
with "reported" cases showing a sharp increase as
the incubation period expires for more individuals.
New cases are now being reported in other states
and other countries around the world. Further
expansion of confirmed cases and numbers of deaths
are to be expected according to authorities. A major
problem is the lack of accurate informational statistics
concerning "reported" or "confirmed" cases. The best
current advice as to what we should do, comes, oddly
enough, from President Obama who says we should
stay calm and not panic. Addressing a similar subject
in 2005, then Senator Obama with Senator Richard
Lugar issued a report, "Grounding a Pandemic." The
subject was the 1918 flu pandemic which had its start
in America and then swept across the world killing
perhaps 50 million people. Of this pandemic, John
Barry in his "The Great Influenza" noted, "Influenza
killed more people in a year than the Black Death
of the Middle Ages killed in a century; it killed
more people in 24 weeks than AIDS has killed in
24 years."

Of those vast numbers of deaths, more than 500,000
were in America. Subsequent flu outbreaks such as the
Asian flu epidemic in 1957 took 70,000 American lives,
and the Hong Kong flu epidemic in 1968 took another
34,000 lives in our country. Thus the "Keep calm -- do
not panic" advice is sound, up to a point. We need to
keep informed and follow health authority instructions.
It will probably be helpful to have a Secretary of Health
and Human Services -- although the just confirmed
nominee, Governor Sibelius from Kansas, is, like
President Obama, an outspoken advocate of abortion.

From one of our Founding Fathers: "God who
gave us life gave us liberty. 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 of 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 forever." -- Thomas Jefferson, 1774

Some Random Afterthoughts . . .

Our readers seem to enjoy the "one liners" that
we come across in our research -- like this one from
Abraham Lincoln: “It is better to remain silent and
be thought a fool, than to open one’s mouth and
remove all doubt.”
Then there is this classic from Ronald Reagan: "The
trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're
ignorant; it's just that they know so much that
isn't so."
And speaking of President Obama, former Senator
Fred Thompson said this week: "I think it’s a case
of naiveté, ineptitude and unbelievable arrogance
and lack of experience."

We never like to overlook Global Warming,
given the strong efforts of the Obama administration
and its Democrat controlled Congress to pass the
Cap and Trade proposal. Last week Al Gore, the
prophet of Global Warming, appeared before the
House Energy and Commerce Committee to try to
scare them into passing Cap and Trade. Not helping
in the Gore effort was Democrat Representative
John Dingell, who said, "Nobody in this country
realizes that cap and trade is a tax, and it’s a
great big one." Part of the maneuvering was the
refusal of the Democrats to allow Lord Christopher
Monckton, former Science Advisor to Prime Minister
Thatcher, to appear at the hearing Al Gore addressed.
Monckton said that when his plane landed from
England he was advised that he would not be
allowed to testify alongside Al Gore. "The House
Democrats don't want Gore humiliated, so they
slammed the door of the Capitol in my face,"
Monckton said; "They are cowards."

America's largest Protestant denomination,
the Southern Baptist Convention, released statistics
for last year, which can be summed up as follows:
Giving, Attendance, Number of Churches: UP; but
Membership and Baptisms: DOWN. Despite the
economic crisis, Southern Baptists gave 2.3% more
to missions, established more churches, and had
larger total attendance, but lost some members, and
baptized the fewest people since 1987, according to
the Annual Church Profile prepared by LifeWay
Christian Resources.

Two interesting news items: (1) The Presbyterian
Church USA, has retained its constitutional rule that
its officers practice “fidelity within the covenant of
marriage between a man and a woman, or chastity
in singleness.” Thus the denomination has maintained
the church's historic position, and has held the line on
the moral issue of homosexuality. (2) Richard Cizik,
former vice president of the National Association of
Evangelicals, we was forced to resign because of his
Liberal views, has reappeared, speaking with the
environmentalists on Creation Care at Earth Day
observances.

From an early national leader: Robert Winthrop,
who served as speaker of the U.S. House, and as
Secretary of State in the mid-1850s, set forth these
options: "Men, in a word, must necessarily be
controlled either by a power within them or by a
power without them; either by the Word of God
or by the strong arm of man; either by the Bible
or by the bayonet."

A thoughtful word from a Founding Father: "But
what do we mean by the American Revolution?
Do we mean the American war? The Revolution
was effected before the war commenced. The
Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the
people; a change in their religious sentiments,
of their duties and obligations... This radical
change in the principles, opinions, sentiments,
and affections of the people was the real
American Revolution." -- John Adams, 1818

WHAT WILL IT TAKE
to wake up America, and American
Christians to the changes which are
threatening the aspects of life which
we consider absolutely important?
This week we will comment on a
few of the issues which are much in
the news today. Please let us have
your thoughts by emailing us at:
american_news_2008@yahoo.com
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THE OVERSEAS TRIPS; SOME PRESIDENTIAL
PRONOUNCEMENTS; THE CONTINUING
PARTISAN BIAS BY THE MEDIA; ETC.

Where to begin? Does anyone have an answer to the
question "What will it take to wake up America? This
weekly newsletter is but one expression of the concern
that many Americans share. The conflicting opinions
used to be described as between Republicans and
Democrats. Then that definition shifted to becoming
Conservatives vs Liberals. (And to a certain extent,
that is still the case.) But now it has more and more
become clear that the actual conflict is between
Christian and anti-Christian beliefs and believers.

The question above thus becomes for Christians:
Will we surrender to pressures and remain silent, or
will we speak up and protest what is happening to our
nation -- which was once the bulwark of Christianity
for the whole world.?

This is not an illusory feeling. Just two weeks ago, at
a press conference in Turkey, our president stated:
"We do not consider ourselves a Christian nation,"
yet a Pew Research poll has reported that 71% of
Americans consider America to be a Christian nation.
Further evidence of just far our of touch with Americans
our president really is.

During that same visit to Turkey, President Obama
said, "The United States is not and will never be
at war with Islam..." He went on to add that the
Muslim religion "has done so much over the centuries
to shape the world -- including in my own country."
He is absolutely right, of course -- anyone can see how
the skyline in New York City has been reshaped
through the removal of the Twin Towers of the World
Trade Center.

And the insistence that Islam is a religion of peace is
sharply at odds with the facts, as demonstrated by the
statement of Hamas Islamic leader Zia Abu Aloha on
Al-Aqua TV that same week: "Hatred for Mohammad
and Islam is in their [Jews'] souls, they are naturally
disposed to it... Israel is a cancer that wants to rule
the world." And he continued his peaceful tirade to his
conclusion that Jews are destined to be annihilated,
by saying, "The time will come, by Allah's will, when
their property will be destroyed and their children
will be exterminated, and no Jew or Zionist will be
left on the face of this earth." Our world cannot
stand much more of that kind of "peace."

The American Spectator magazine offers this concise
evaluation in a major piece titled "Obama's Holy War
Against Christianity": "Obama has in effect declared
to Christians in America: either bring your under-
standing of Christianity into line with my liberalism
or don't bother entering the public square. You
want federal money? Well, then perform abortions,
distribute condoms, hire homosexual activists, etc.
He would never dare talk to Muslims in those terms.
If Muslims had to endure patronizing and lying
secularist drivel from him ... they would riot.
Cowed and secularized Christians just nod and
offer him an honorary degree."

But we should not be surprised, although we know
so little about our president's background. His birth
records, his educational records, his health records
have not been disclosed to the American people.We
do know, however, that he was brought up and
educated as a Muslim, attending Muslim schools in
Indonesia. His Christian religious experience has been
some 20 years under the ministry of a liberal minister
whose views on America were summed up in his
well publicized sermon where he said three times that
they should not sing "God Bless America," but rather
"God D__ America."

And through all of this, we face the strong bias of
the elite or main-stream media. For example, we have
been kept advised for weeks, day by day, rumor by
rumor, about the choice of a dog for the new occupants
of the White House. (As if anyone cared.) Think for a
moment about the other news events which were given
second level attention under minute by minute news
about the choice of the new dog: North Korea's
provocative missile launch; Prime Minister Netanyahu's
pledge to work for a two-state solution -- but the
Palestinians refused; Pakistan handing over more territory
to the Islamic Taliban; Iran's President Ahmadinejad
answering President Obama's outreach overture: "You
Are Weak, Your Hands Are Empty, And You Can't
Force Us to Do Anything; Nearly 7,000 Centrifuges
Are Spinning Today at Natanz, Mocking You"; and
to cap the continuing media bias -- approximately a
million Americans participated in a nation-wide tax
revolt, and to the extent possible, the media ignored it.
(The New York Times, for example, buried the story
on page 14.)

Multi-millionaire House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, denied
this was a "grass roots" event, and described it in these
words: "Astroturf politics to protect the wealthiest
people."

In connection with those TEA Parties ("Taxed
Enough Already") held across America last week,
the Obama administration is on the look-out for "right
wing extremists." Janet Napolitano's Department of
Homeland Security issued a so-called "anti-terrorism
security assessment" that targets mainstream Americans
as dangerous extremists and warns that conservative
activists could pose a real security threat to our nation.
Ms. Napolitano has defended the report which says
that "right-wing extremism" may include those who
are opposed to abortion and illegal immigration. This
is the same Janet Napolitano who just recently
adopted new terminology for terrorists who commit
violent acts to destroy our country -- her new term is
not "terrorism" but "man caused disasters."

President Obama's religious inclinations remain
puzzling to Christian observers. In Turkey he appeared
for a photo-op in a major mosque, and said flattering
things about Islam. With that action still fresh in our
minds, it is difficult to understand why when he spoke
at Washington's Georgetown University, a Catholic
institution, a few days ago, his staff demanded that the
monogram "IHS," a symbol of Jesus Christ, carved
in the arch under which he stood, be covered up.

This affront to the Christian faith occurred in a Catholic
university founded by the Jesuits in 1789! Moreover,
the president quoted the Sermon on the Mount during
his address, which opens the door to this question:
Why would the president go to a Catholic university
to deliver a speech quoting the Sermon on the Mount,
and demand that a symbol of the sermon’s author be
covered up? His statement that we do not consider
ourselves to be a Christian nation continues to take
on more meaning.

Two headlines about the Latin America Summit:
"Presidents Thaw US-Venezuela Rift" and
"A summit of Latin American and Caribbean
leaders has ended with no agreement on a joint
declaration"
The first one is partially true -- President Obama shook
hands with President Chavez, who controlled the
photo-op session. That probably could be considered
something of a "thaw." At least our president did not
bow down to Chavez as he did to the Muslim King of
Saudi Arabia during his European visit.

The second one is most certainly true -- there was no
agreement developed or issued from the summit. Mr.
Chavez came to the meeting with his polished rhetoric
firmly in place: "I am convinced that the path to a
new, better and possible world is not capitalism,
the path is socialism...I hereby accuse the North
American empire of being the biggest menace to
our planet." As to his broader goal, he stated that
Venezuela has "a strong oil card to play on the
geopolitical stage ... It is a card that we are going
to play with toughness against the toughest country
in the world, the United States." And concerning
President Obama, he said, "The least I can say is
that he's a poor ignoramus; he should read and
study a little to understand reality."

Following the Summit, Mr. Chavez seemed pleased
with his meeting with President Obama, and the changes
being brought about by the Obama administration, saying:
“It would seem that the changes that started in
Venezuela in the last decade of the 20th century
have begun to reach North America,” But let it be
said that Mr. Obama smiled happily through all of the
meetings with other leaders, friends or foes.

One observer on the scene in Trinidad wrote as
follows: "As Cuba’s Fidel Castro lays sick and
potentially dying - Hugo Chávez has assumed the
mantle of leadership from the Godfather of
communism and, with the aid of Venezuela’s
massive oil income, is building influence and
uniting every anti-American entity for one sole
ambition, the destruction of the United States of
America and the irradiation of its global influence."
Any measurable "thaw" between the two countries was
certainly not evident.

These are difficult times for us who hold to the
Christian faith. But we dare not sit back, ignore what
is clearly happening all around us, and simply do
nothing about it. We don’t usually think that history
can be shaped by silence or neglect, but Edmund
Burke, the 18th century Irish philosopher and Member
of the British parliament took an opposite view: "The
only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for
good men to do nothing." If we were to have a motto
or slogan for our life and actions in the days just ahead,
that would certainly be acceptable.

Quote of the week: (Is Washington listening?) From
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, speaking of Iran:
"You don’t want a messianic apocalyptic cult
controlling atomic bombs. When the wide-eyed
believer gets hold of the reins of power and the
weapons of mass death, then the entire world should
start worrying, and that is what is happening in Iran.”

And from our Founding Fathers: "My ardent
desire is to keep the United States free from
political connections with every other country, to
see them independent of all and under the influence
of none." -- George Washington, 1795
"Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all
nations, entangling alliances with none, should be
our motto. -- Thomas Jefferson, 1801

Some Random Afterthoughts . . .

Our readers seem to enjoy the "one liners" that
we come across in our research -- like this one from
the Center for Individual Freedom, on-line:"American
success and a President's success are not always
synonymous. To the contrary, a Presidential failure
can often benefit America, and a Presidential success
can often harm America."
Or this one, author unknown: "What Washington needs
is adult supervision."

A first for Britain's Prince Philip, who this past
weekend became Britain's longest serving Royal
Consort, passing the record of 57 years, 70 days, held
by Queen Charlotte with King George III. Philip long
ago passed the record of Albert, as husband of Queen
Victoria, at 21 years. Philip's record is one not likely
ever to be surpassed.

A violation of fairness, but a triumph of personal
integrity . . . we're speaking of the Miss USA pageant,
last week in Las Vegas, where finalist Carrie Prejean,
a student at San Diego Christian College (founded by
"Left Behind" author Tim LaHaye) was relegated to
first runner-up instead of being crowned "Miss USA"
because of her answer to the final question. She was
asked to give her opinion of "same-sex" marriage, and
she replied that her upbringing and her belief was that
marriage was between a man and a woman. One of
the judges described her answer as "dumb." In any
event, it clearly cost her the title. It is further evidence
that as Christians, we are living in difficult times. (P.S.
In our viewpoint, Carrie was clearly the most
beautiful contestant.)

One ray of good news among the gloom: according
to the most recent data available from the Federal
Bureau of Economic Analysis, America still produces
more goods than any other country -- including China.
America currently accounts for about 20% of the
world's manufacturing output -- although we are currently
losing our share of the world market, and China may
soon overtake us as the world's leading producer.

From Samuel Adams, "The father of the American
Revolution, 1771: "The liberties of our country, the
freedom of our civil constitution, are worth
defending at all hazards; and it is our duty to defend
them against all attacks. We have received them as
a fair inheritance from our worthy ancestors: they
purchased them for us with toil and danger and
expense of treasure and blood, and transmitted
them to us with care and diligence. It will bring an
everlasting mark of infamy on the present generation,
enlightened as it is, if we should suffer them to be
wrested from us by violence without a struggle, or
be cheated out of them by the artifices of false and
designing men."
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WE SEEM TO BE FACING PUZZLING
DEVELOPMENTS IN JUST ABOUT
EVERY AREA OF LIFE TODAY

Surely you remember the old admonition: "Don't
cry over spilt milk." It is old English in origin, and
apparently first appeared in an English dictionary in
1738. The meaning is obvious: "There is no use in
worrying about unfortunate events which have
already happened."

That old phrase is quite an accurate expression of
the current situation in which America's Conservative
Evangelical Christians find ourselves today. Yes, some
serious, grievous events took place last November,
and are continuing to proliferate and escalate day by
day. But by simply whining and weeping about current
developments, we will accomplish nothing toward
achieving our imperative goal of calling America back
to the basic Christian principles upon which this nation
was founded.

Back in the 1930s (and some of us are old enough
to recall those days) there was a popular song which
used words something like these as advice when things
seem to go wrong: "Pick yourself up, dust yourself
off, and start all over again."

And isn't that where we find ourselves today?
Yes, the Christian cause suffered some reversals in
the last national election. Yes, we seem to be heading
in the wrong direction by abandoning our traditional
moral values and adopting the Liberal, anti-Christian
versions of "progress."

There are indeed puzzling developments in just
about every area of our life today. Because our major
field of expertise is with respect to religious, or more
specifically, Christian, issues, we are facing one very
puzzling development in that field. During "Holy Week:"
prior to Easter, a Southern California pastor named
Rick Warren got considerable national publicity by
appearing on TV talk shows like CNN's Larry King,
and Fox's Neil Cavuto, plus an Internet circulated
interview with the magazine Christianity Today.

His puzzling assertion was that he "never once even
gave an endorsement" to California's Proposition 8,
which the state's voters strongly supported, and which
establishes that marriage is between one man and one
woman. The fact is, however, that just prior to that
election he told his congregation: "Let me say very
clearly: we support Proposition 8 -- and if you
believe what the Bible says about marriage, you
need to support Proposition 8. I never endorse a
candidate, but on moral issues I come out very
clear." Never endorsed Proposition 8? Hmmmm ...

And this is the man who was touted, possibly by his
professional publicist, as "the next Billy Graham."
A ridiculous comparison, by any standard.

Evangelical leaders (true Evangelicals, not Evangelical
in name only) have expressed their concern very clearly.
Bishop Harry Jackson, Jr, of High Impact Leadership
Coalition, said that Warren: "is falling into a trap ...
that we love the applause of men more than we
love the work of God and the Gospel." Dr. Albert
Mohler, President of Southern Baptist Theological
Seminary, said, "I was extremely troubled by the
way he appeared to be so anxious to distance
himself from the same-sex issue..." Sandy Rios,
writing in Perspectives, commented: "In one CNN
moment, he not only backed away from the hard
teaching, but lied in the process. On camera ...
for all to see." And characterized it as "another
Easter denial." Other Evangelical leaders have
spoken of his "defection" ... have called it
"backsliding" ... and have referred to him as
"a wolf in sheep's clothing."

Mr. Warren said he has written to his homosexual
friends to apologize for appearing to support a ban
on same-sex marriage. It would seem that his apology
should go to American Evangelicals, whose stance on
this important issue has been harmed by his abrupt
turn-about.

Then, of course, this valid question arises which has
been in the background of all these discussions, Can
an Evangelical, born-again Christian ever support
homosexual marriage?

But on religious issues, puzzling developments are
not limited to one professed Evangelical pastor's
defection. President Obama himself makes some
puzzling statements. This is the man who took his
oath of office with his hand on the Bible, and ended
the oath with the words, "So help me, God." Yet
just a couple of weeks ago in an address in Turkey
he abandoned more than 200 years of America's
Christian heritage and said, "We do not consider
ourselves a Christian nation or a Jewish nation
or a Muslim nation. We consider ourselves a
nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and
a set of values" At least he is true to his word --
during his campaign he promised to seek repeal of
the Defense of Marriage Act, to encourage same-sex
marriages ... he promised to support the Freedom
of Choice Act to encourage abortions ... he promised
to end the ban on embryonic stem cell research ...
he promised to support open homosexuality in the
US armed forces ... and we are only 3 months into
his new administration.

And there are puzzling developments in the military
side of things, too. But this is so complex and so wide
spread, globally, that this brief analysis by Caroline
Glick, writing in The Jerusalem Post, sums it up well:
"Somewhere between apologizing for American
history - both distant and recent; genuflecting
before the unelected, bigoted king of Saudi Arabia;
announcing that he will slash the US's nuclear
arsenal, scrap much of America's missile defense
programs and emasculate the US Navy; leaving
Japan to face North Korea and China alone;
telling the Czechs, Poles and their fellow former
Soviet colonies, 'Don't worry, be happy,' as he
leaves them to Moscow's tender mercies;
humiliating Iraq's leaders while kowtowing to
Iran; preparing for an open confrontation with
Israel; and thanking Islam for its great contribution
to American history, President Obama made clear
to the world's aggressors that America will not be
confronting them for the foreseeable future."

And the economic situation is also puzzling -- as
we taxpayers give millions ... no, billions ... no, trillions
to banks so they can pay millions in bonuses to the
executives who brought them to the brink of failure . . .
and then find it impossible to provide any money to us
in the form of home or business loans, and increase the
interest rates on credit cards so we can't afford to make
purchases to help restore American businesses so they
can re-employ some of the personnel who have been
laid off . . . it is indeed puzzling!

But we are not to cry over spilt milk. Rather, we
are to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and start
all over again. We here at ANC have accepted the
challenge of helping to alert American Christians to
the need and importance -- and the urgency -- of
reasserting the historic Judeo-Christian principles
upon which this nation was founded . . . principles
which have for 200 years made America concurrently
the most powerful and the most beneficent nation on
earth. This statement, attributed to Alexis de Tocqueville,
a French historian, in 1835, remains true today, in 2009:
"America is great because she is good. If America
ceases to be good, America will cease to be great."

This week's quote, not from a Founding Father,
but from a present day Evangelical leader, well
summarizes the situation:"Our nation is in deep
trouble ... I truly believe that profound and
fundamental changes in the way America thinks
and lives are just around the corner. And, in my
opinion, many of these changes will push our nation
even further away from our Judeo-Christian roots.
Even now, new priorities are reshaping America
into a secularized society that looks to the
government rather than our eternal God as our
ultimate provider." -- Don Wildmon, Chairman,
American Family Association

And according to America's Founding Fathers,
the matters of national debt and taxation were early
issues of concern in those early days: "So low and
hopeless are the finances of the United States,
that, the year before last, Congress was obliged
to borrow money even, to pay the interest of the
principal which we had borrowed before. This
wretched resource of turning interest into
principal is the most humiliating and disgraceful
measure that a nation could take, and approximates
with rapidity to absolute ruin." - William Richardson
Davie, Governor of North Carolina (1798-1799), and
delegate to the 1787-88 Constitutional Convention

And from the 4th President of the United States:
"The apportionment of taxes on the various
descriptions of property is an act which seems
to require the most exact impartiality; yet there
is, perhaps, no legislative act in which greater
opportunity and temptation are given to a
predominant party to trample on the rules of
justice. Every shilling which they overburden the
inferior number is a shilling saved to their own
pockets." -- James Madison, 1825

Some Random Afterthoughts . . .

Our readers seem to enjoy the "one liners." Here
are a few more: “I despise, and you can put that in
capital letters, what many in the media are doing
right now. I think they’re corrupt. I think they’re
dishonest. I think they’re ill-informed." -- from
Bill O'Reilly, Fox News
"Newsweek Magazine has now caught up with
Time. Back in 1966, Time asked if God was dead.
Newsweek today asks if we now live in a 'post-
Christian' America." -- from Tony Perkins, in
Washington Update
"Those who write off Christian conservatism as
a political force have underestimated the driving
compulsion behind traditional faith and American
freedom." -- Star Parker, writing in "Perspectives"

The most important ministries . . .what are they?
A new study, called "Critical Ministries and their
Leadership," conducted by Life Way Research
discloses which ministries are the most important in
the opinion of the nation's pastors. In summary, 24%
allocated evangelism outreach to the No. 1 position,
followed by Sunday School/Bible Study at 17%;
Worship at 13%; Preaching at 10% with Youth and
Children's ministries at 9%.

We can hope for balanced media coverage, but
probably in vain. For example, how much more do
we have to see and hear about the new dog in the
White House? Really . . . who cares? And while we
rejoice that Captain Phillips was rescued, unharmed,
did anyone mention that there were three US Naval
warships standing against 4 untrained teenagers in an
18 foot dingy? And after killing his three friends, one
teenager was captured and will be standing trial. (And
the pirates don't forget or forgive -- the next day they
hijacked 4 more ships.) And today is the national TEA
Party day -- "Taxed Enough Already." Thousands of
TEA Parties are scheduled, but will the Liberal media
deign to cover the events? As usual, if there is a voice,
or movement that doesn't trumpet the Administration's
socialist agenda, it will be glossed over by the media.
But we can hope for balanced coverage, even if in vain.

We hate to ignore "Global Warming." Last week
President Obama announced that the science of global
warming is "beyond dispute," and therefore settled.
David Deming, writing in Investor's Business Daily,
commented, "'Settled science' is an oxymoron, and
anyone who characterizes science as 'settled' or
'indisputable' is ignorant not only of science, but
also history and philosophy."

Another Founding Father's applicable quote:
"It is the duty of every man to render to the
Creator such homage and such only as he
believes to be acceptable to him. This duty is
precedent, both in order of time and in degree
of obligation, to the claims of Civil Society."
- -James Madison, 1785

REVERSING SHAKESPEARE'S WORDS WELL
DESCRIBES THE G-20 CONFERENCE:
"NOTHING ADO ABOUT MUCH"

But that headline relates just to the major secular or
political news story of the day . . . for Christians the
major story commanding our attention is the never
ending remembrance of what history and customary
usage has called "Holy Week," that period of time
between the Sunday when Jesus entered Jerusalem,
to the Friday when He was crucified and the Sunday
when He arose from the dead. Palm Sunday, Good
Friday, Easter Sunday -- those are the days and dates
which remain forever as pillars -- "headlines" if you
will -- of the Christian faith.

Today we are midway through Holy Week. Surely at
this time -- if we should fail to do so always -- we
should pause and reflect on some of the truths which
establish Christianity as distinctly different from and
superior to all of the other world religions. Our good
friend and fellow Christian scholar, Dr, Gene Jeffries,
reminded us of those truths last week: "Christianity
is unique in that it is the only 'religion' that offers
mankind a forgiveness for sin. (Ephesians 1:7)
Christianity is also unique in that it is the only
'religion' whose Leader has risen from the dead.
(Luke 24:6) In fact, the Lord Jesus Christ is the
only 'religious' leader who ever claimed that He
would rise from the dead. (John 10: 17-18) -- not
Mohammad, not Buddha, not anyone else -- only
Jesus."

During Holy Week this year, let's put aside the Easter
eggs, the Easter bunnies, and focus our attention on
the eternal basic element of our faith -- the resurrection
of Jesus Christ.

To express a word of concern: it is difficult to
comment on all the issues confronting us in today's
news -- there are the tragic shootings in Pittsburgh,
in Binghamton, in Alabama and elsewhere . . . there
are the bodies of children discovered after pedophiles
have murdered them . . . there is the natural disaster
in Italy with hundreds dead and thousands homeless . . .
there are Christians in so many parts of the world
facing life threatening persecution . . . there are world-
wide violations of human rights as rogue nations
threaten nuclear attacks . . . our responsibility in all
of these situations is to pray and ask God to make His
will manifest to His followers. In the time in which we
live there is no more urgent challenge than for Christians
to be faithful in prayer.

And now back to the week's headline: for weeks
the news media had been stressing the importance of
the G-20 conference in London. There President
Obama would make his entrance on the international
stage among the heads of state of the leading nations
of the world who were gathered to seek a solution to
the economic crisis which has affected them all. Or if
such a solution could not be found, they would at least
agree on some united approach to the problem.

That was the announced goal. As for the result -- after
reading the formal reports and cutting through the "spin"
from the administration, one is reminded of the classic
line by Orson Welles in The Third Man: "In Italy
for thirty years under the Borgias, they had warfare,
terror, murder, bloodshed. They produced Michael
Angelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance.
In Switzerland they had brotherly love, five hundred
years of democracy and peace, and what did they
produce? The cookoo clock."

The G-20 conference produced a resolution to work
together and try to find a solution to the economic
disaster in which the world finds itself. And President
Obama invited G-20 members to another conference
later this year in New York.

As for our president's high hopes that he would charm
the NATO nations into sharing in the war in Afghanistan,
those hopes were also unfulfilled. There emerged a
pledge of 3,000 troops on a temporary basis to monitor
and oversee the upcoming election, plus a few hundred
civilian advisors to help organize the government, and a
few hundred troops to share in the fighting. Thus the
"surge" in new American forces, raised from 38,000
to 59,000, assures that this will remain virtually an
American staffed conflict. The NATO nations also
pledged $600 million to support the American strategy.
As of July 2008, the Congressional Research Service
showed the estimated monthly cost of the war in
Afghanistan as $2.4 billion. (That was, of course,
prior to the recent surge in US armed forces.) As of
that date the cost was $80 million per day. Thus the
NATO financial pledge would pay for approximately
one week of the Afghan conflict.

But President Obama's report included these words:
"Our allies pledged their strong and unanimous
support for our new strategy."

Probably the most notable picture, and possibly
the most significant event at the G-20 conference
was the one showing US President Barack Hussein
Obama bowing deeply before the King of Saudi
Arabia. This is something that no President of the
United States has ever done before, and is almost
beyond belief. 200 years of protocol for American
presidents were demolished in that act of humiliation.
Such a bow of abject obeyance signifies admission of
the superiority of the ruler who is being so honored.
But that, of course, is the Muslim view that they are
superior to the infidels who do not subscribe to their
beliefs. Then there is this aspect, as noted in a comment
on the Internet, "At least he is acknowledging one of
the people who made his election possible. He owes
a lot to these guys. The king will get a lot of good
use out of that photo."

The North Korean missile launch -- after they
had been warned by the United Nations not to go
ahead with their plans, the North Koreans totally
disregarded the UN, and world opinion, and
launched their inter-continental missile. President
Obama immediately called for UN action, but
after an emergency meeting of the Security Council,
no agreement on any rebuke of North Korea could
be agreed upon -- China and Russia felt there was
no reason for such a statement -- and even any very
mild message from the chairman of the Security
Council, would not be able to use the term "concern."
(Again, due to objections from Russia and China.) So
much for our reliance on the UN to do anything worth
while. And so much for any favorable results from our
newly developing friendships with China and Russia.

Let this point be made clear: we do not express
disagreement and criticism of just one political party
and just one administration. It is not so much a case
of what we are "against," but more a case of what we
are "for." We are for the Christian faith, Conservatism,
and the United States of America. It is when actions
are taken which adversely affect those three basics
that we express our concerns and objections.

We never tire of quoting America's Founding
Fathers on their views of this new nation which was
being formed: "It is necessary for every American,
to endeavor to stop the dissemination of principles
evidently destructive of the cause for which they
have bled. It must be the combined virtue of the
rulers and of the people to do this, and to rescue
and save their civil and religious rights from the
outstretched arm of tyranny, which may appear
under any mode or form of government." -- from
Mercy Warren, 1805, writing in "History of the Rise
Progress, and Termination of the American Revolution"


Some Random Afterthoughts . . .


Those great "one-liners" never seem to end;
here are a few more which came to our attention:
With respect to Obama's war against the churches,
"I think there's a clear to desire to replace the
church with a bureaucracy, and to replace people's
right to worship together with a government-
dominated system." -- Newt Gingrich
"Theft in the name of stimulus is still theft; most
of our nation's great problems, including our
economic problems, have as their root decaying
moral values." -- Columnist Walter Williams
"When Obama told us that he would 'totally change
the economic system;' 'totally change America' and
'totally change the world,' he wasn't kidding."
-- Col. Bob Pappas
And here's one we missed last week: "For April
Fools day we give you the cruelest joke of all...
President Barack Obama. The only problem is,
the joke's on us...for the next four, very, very
long years. -- Conservative Outpost

In the past two issues we have pointed out the
new "politically correct" terminology adopted for
some current events -- we are no longer to speak
of "terrorist acts" but rather call them "man caused
disasters." And we are not engaged in a global war
on terror, but rather it is an "Overseas contingency
operation." Now we are seeing the development
of new terminology to replace "illegal alien." Ingmar
Guandique, recently charged in the 2001 murder of
Chandra Levy in Washington, is an illegal alien. But
in referring to him in news stories, the Washington
Post called him a "Salvadoran day laborer;" ABC
News referred to him as an "incarcerated felon;"
CNN called him a "jailed laborer;" MSNBC used
the term "imprisoned Salvadoran immigrant;" and
it goes on and on. Apparently we are well on our
way to a new politically correct term for those who
are illegally in our country.

A different source of good news: an advertisement
by Human Events for a new book provides a welcome
testimony to the Bible: "For most Americans, the
Bible is a source of divine inspiration, moral
guidance, and the foundation of Western
civilization. But for an influential group of
academic, government and media elites, it's the
source of most of the evil in the world today. But
fear not: in The Politically Incorrect Guide to the
Bible, award-winning journalist Robert J. Hutchinson
turns the latest historical scholarship against the
mockers, skeptics and deniers to show that not
only is the Bible true -- but it is also the source of
Western ideas of charity, justice, reason, science,
and democracy." It is refreshing to see that the Word
of God still has strong support among real scholars.

And from the ultimate Founding Father: "The
spirit of encroachment tends to consolidate the
powers of all the departments in one, and thus to
create whatever the form of government, a real
despotism. A just estimate of that love of power,
and proneness to abuse it, which predominates in
the human heart is sufficient to satisfy us of the
truth of this position." -- George Washington, in
his Farewell Address, 1796