American News Commentary

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