American News Commentary

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BEFORE BEGINNING TODAY'S ISSUE,
please let us share a few thoughts with you.
We have an informal panel of knowledgeable
people with whom we discuss contemporary
issues before committing our opinions to email,
and sending them across America and the world.

This subject came up during the past few days:
"Was last week's issue of ANC too political in
its approach?" Our purpose has always been
to analyze and comment on current events as
seen from a Christian viewpoint, an Evangelical
Christian viewpoint. And we realize that there
are people who hold the position that Christians
should stay out of politics.

During discussion on this subject this week,
one panel member used this logic: "If you had
been living in Germany in the 1930's, and
had known then what you know now about
what was going on -- what would you have
written?" The answer, of course, is that we
would have opposed the growth of "Nazi
socialism" in Germany. So now it is obviously
our responsibility to oppose the growth of
Obama socialism in our country.

Some of us have seen two videos this week.
One shows a Black pastor in Harlem warning
that Whites may soon revolt to oppose the
Obama programs. That video may be seen at:
http://la-gun.com/email/manning/

We acknowledge Rev. Manning's sincere
concern and commitment, and, although we
do not endorse his theology, his warning is
worth our consideration.

The other video exposes the way the Obama
administration is attacking the Catholic church
by a "divide and conquer" strategy. It may be
seen at: YouTube - Obama's "Catholic Plan"

This should be viewed with the reminder that a
similar attack is underway against Evangelical
Christian churches.

Our intent remains: to present current events
as seen through a Christian viewpoint, and to
awaken the Church to take a stand on behalf
of this nation which was founded on historic
Judeo-Christian principles.

Thank you for taking time to read this lengthy
introduction. Please rely on our pledge that we
will continue to advocate and defend the
Christian faith and the Evangelical cause, and
oppose in every way possible all attacks on
that faith, from political or any other sources.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

IT MUST BE ADMITTED: OUR NATION IS
IN A MESS, AND THINGS ARE GETTING
WORSE. WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT IT?

Where to start? Not an easy choice. There is so
much bad going on that it's hard to decide what
to comment on. But perhaps a quick review of
the 7 subjects we were unable to discuss in last
week's issue would be a reasonable way to start.

1. Some of the "stimulus funds" (your tax dollars)
are being used to fund porno art projects. Very
true. Alliance Defense Fund special counsel Pat
Trueman reported after his examination of funds
given to National Endowment for the Arts: "The
NEA is using money from the stimulus bill ...for
the production of pornography...primarily
homosexual pornography."

2. Dan Rather has been urging Obama to appoint
a "Press Czar." However, this makes little sense.
The White House already controls just about
all of the media. Or maybe it is because Dan
needs a job. Whatever the reason, polls show
that only 25% of Americans agree with his idea
and 55% oppose it. So, it will probably happen.

3. Two Episcopal dioceses are considering gay
and lesbian candidate for bishops. See the
discussion under "Afterthoughts."

4. Is it time to quit asking Barack Obama to
disclose his birth certificate? It just may be. If
he was born in America, nothing would change.
If it turns out that he was not born in America,
the resultant discord might be more than the
country could cope with. But at least he should
disclose some of his other records. We really
know very little about him, and surely we have
every right to know some of the background
facts in the life of the President of the United
States. But frankly, that isn't likely to happen.

5. Bill Clinton's trip to North Korea. After the
North Koreans rejected the idea of Al Gore,
they decided that the visit of an ex-president
would give them the prestige and recognition
they sought. This has to be said: Clinton did a
much better job in his first try than Jimmy Carter
has done thus far in all his blundering attempts
at international diplomacy.

6. Racism at the beer summit. The president's
friend, Professor Gates, had been the one to
raise the race issue, and Obama tried to remove
any evidence of bias by inviting VP Joe Biden
at the last minute to even the balance: two blacks
and two whites. But still no apology has come
from the president for saying that the Cambridge
police acted "stupidly."

7. Increased Muslim persecution of Christians
in Pakistan. See discussion under "Afterthoughts."

So now we can start a new week of commentary
with no left-over topics still facing us. But the
question is still before us: Where to start?

This has been called the "Age of the Polls."
There are so many to choose from, but many
are operated -- at least in part -- by various
elements of the media, with the result that their
reports may often reflect their Liberal bias. Of
the independent polls, one - Rasmussen Reports
- is conducted on a daily basis and therefore its
timely accuracy is much greater. Here are some
Rasmussen summaries as of the beginning of
this week.

Right now, for the president and his Democrat
controlled Congress, their No. 1 priority is the
passage of "Obamacare" -- the 21st century
version of "Hillarycare," the totally rejected plan
of the Clinton administration. But despite the
urgent label affixed to this plan by Obama and
his Congress, no such urgency is being shown
by the American people, the majority of whom
already have health insurance which they like.
In fact, 48% now rate the US healthcare system
as good or excellent, and 80% rate their own
health insurance cover age as good or excellent.

House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, described the
nation's insurance companies as "villains," but
as with most issues, very few of the American
people agree with her -- in this instance only 25%.
54% of voters now say tax cuts for the middle
class are more important that spending for health
care reform.

The public's opinion of this one major element
of the Obama administration's agenda is an
important factor in the president's approval
index rating still being stuck in negative numbers.

In this week's poll, 53% of American voters
oppose the president's health plan and 42%
support it. Overall, the trends we cited last week
remain about the same -- 33% feel the nation is
heading in the right direction, with 60% feeling
we are on the wrong track. And as for the future
of America under Obama's plans, only 28%
expect our nation to be the most powerful in the
world at the end of the 21st century.

One Christian concern about "Obamacare"
has always been the expansion of availability of
abortions through funding provided in the plan.
Recent polling discloses that 51% of Americans
now hold a pro-life position, and 75% favor
strong restrictions on abortions. The Ethics and
Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) of the
Southern Baptist Convention has analyzed the
proposed "Obamacare" plan, and concludes
"with absolute certainty" that the plan would
endanger the lives of the unborn and elderly,
and "will lead to diminished health care for
most Americans, less choice, higher taxes and
unprecedented government intrusion into every
level and aspect of society from business, to
education, to marriage, to individual liberty."

Who are you going to believe? Liberal politicians,
or the Christian leaders of the largest Protestant
denomination in America?

To summarize, here is a concise evaluation
by Tom Winters, Editor-in-Chief of "Human
Events" magazine: "Something is happening in
America that, try as they might, the liberal
media can't stop simply by distorting or
ignoring it. I'm talking about the surging
opposition to President Obama's plans to
'remake' America (his word) from an
independent republic of freedom-loving,
self-reliant citizens into a Euro-socialist nanny
state... It's real, it's massive, and it's about to
boil over into something the liberals can't
deny any longer."

Could it be true? Thought police in America?
Unbelievable, but yes, it's true. The White House
is asking Americans to report their fellow citizens
who are merely exercising one of their rights
under the First Amendment - freedom of speech.

By now it is well known and much discussed --
the request on the White House web site asking
people to report any message on email or the
Internet criticizing the president's health care
plan, and send that information to the White
House email address: flag@whitehouse.gov

Then as a follow-up, this week, the president's
health care "Czar," Nancy DeParle, launched a
taxpayer-funded initiative to recruit an "Internet
Snitch Brigade" to combat "disinformation
about health insurance reform."

Consider the ramifications. It has been said
that this is like "taking a page out of a playbook
that was written by the Khrushchev types in the
1950s ... like the Russians asking their children
to report on their parents."

And concerning the Town Hall meetings,
in response to the Liberals' claim that they are
not spontaneous, but are planned and organized,
consider this: "People are not automatons.
They show up only if they care. What the town-
hall meetings represent is a feeling of rebellion,
an uprising against change they do not believe
in." -- Peggy Noonan

Our responsibility as Christians in all this?
Nothing new, the same each week: Pray that
God will give to Barack Obama wisdom to face
and deal with the challenges which confront
our nation in these difficult times. Oh yes --
and during this recess, contact your Congress-
people and tell them what you want them to do.

"Patriotism" from a great U.S. president:
"Patriotism means to stand by the country. It
does not mean to stand by the President or
any other public official save exactly to the
degree in which he himself stands by the
country. It is patriotic to support him insofar
as he efficiently serves the country. It is
unpatriotic not to oppose him to the exact
extent that by inefficiency or otherwise he
fails in his duty to stand by the country."
-- Theodore Roosevelt, 1905


Some Random Afterthoughts . . .


Some "one liners"-- including first, these two
from Hillary Clinton, with brief responses:
"God bless the America we are trying to create."

That says it all. Coming from a major member
of the Obama administration, it is clear that their
goal is no longer the campaign promise of
"change" -- now it is "to create" -- to start over
from the beginning, ignoring whatever has gone
before.

"I have to confess that it's crossed my mind that
you could not be a Republican and a Christian."

That is so ridiculous. Consider the two major
moral issues we are facing: Homosexual marriage,
and abortion. Neither is part of Christian belief,
yet both are most strongly supported by Liberals
(Democrats) and are essentially opposed by
Conservatives (Republicans). Not the strongest
argument, but it makes the point.

"The financial industry takes care of Democrats
-- and as we've seen in recent months, the
Democrats take care of the financial industry."
-- Ann Coulter

"State sovereignty movements are growing
increasingly popular as more and more
Americans realize how unconstitutional
our Federal government has become."
-- Bob Livingston

President Obama should not be judged
too harshly just for his statement that when they
responded to a 911 break-in call, Cambridge,
MA, police "acted stupidly." He recently also
said that while he is dedicated to expanding
homosexual rights, he acknowledges that many
Americans still disapprove of homosexuality:

"There are still fellow citizens, perhaps
neighbors or even family members and loved
ones, who still hold fast to worn arguments
and old attitudes." Despite remarks like these,
it is still good to know that he is al least aware
of the views of American Christians.

The peace loving Muslims are at it again.
"We all see that people across the world are
desperately clinging to the slim chance that
'moderate' Islam will coming riding in on a
white horse and end all the problems that the
Islamic community is causing worldwide, but
the truth is that 'moderate' Islam has not come
to the rescue for 1400 years." (Chris, writing in
"Infidels are Cool")

That comment by Chris really says it well. We
all too often read or hear of atrocities inflicted
on Christians by Muslims, and we are always
told those are "radical" Muslims, and that most
Muslims are normal, kind and peace loving.
Our president boasts that America is not a
Christian nation and that Muslims have played
an important role in the development of this
country. Liberals who profess to be Christians,
and some pseudo Evangelicals, have bought
into that false perception, and have urged the
Christian church in America to cooperate with
and work with Muslims who hold the Islamic
faith.

During the past few weeks stories of Christian
persecution by Muslims in Pakistan have been
much in the news. In one town a church and
50 houses were burned and at least 14 Christians
were murdered. In another town 6 Christians
were killed, and in another churches and 60
homes were burned. Other Christians were killed
and many more injured. Rumors of a desecration
of the Quran were claimed to have sparked the
attacks, but even government officials denied
that any such event had taken place.

In Nigeria during the last few weeks 20 churches
and more than 600 homes burned and destroyed,
and 800 people have been killed. Most notable
were the beheadings of three pastors who
refused to deny their faith and convert to Islam.
Another story is of Mary, a 13 year old girl who
was forced to watch her pastor being hacked to
death before he was set on fire.

These few reports do not represent even the
tip of the iceberg of the ongoing persecution
of Christians, world wide, by Muslims, Islamists.
Have you voiced a prayer today for Christian
believers facing persecution in countries where
Muslims are in the majority?

The Episcopal Church (and Anglicans) still
find a place in the news. Less than two weeks
after the general convention in July when it was
decided to revoke any restrictions on ordaining
gays or lesbians as bishops, two of the six
priests nominated to become the Los Angeles
diocese's next suffragan bishop are openly gay.
And during the same week a partnered lesbian
was included among the nominations for bishop
in the Diocese of Minnesota.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams
announced that the Episcopal Church may have
to accept a secondary role in the world-wide
Anglican Communion because of their decision
to ordain homosexual bishops and to allow
blessings for same-sex unions. Most of the
world's 77 million Anglicans are opposed to
homosexuality as unbiblical.

Meanwhile, within the Church of England, the
liberal reaction against conservative Anglicans
and the Archbishop of Canterbury has begun.
In the words of one observer: "Open warfare
is now declared."

Pro-gays in the Church of England are planning
a survey of all LGBT clergy, and to determine
how many gay blessings have been and are
being performed. The follow-up will be to urge
the Church of England to approve gay blessings
and ordinations of gay priests and bishops.

A telling quote from our first president:

"While we are zealously performing the duties
of good citizens and soldiers, we certainly
ought not to be inattentive to the higher duties
of religion. To the distinguished character of
Patriot, it should be our highest glory to add
the more distinguished character of Christian."
-- George Washington, 1778