Wednesday
THE FAMILY REMAINS A MOST IMPORTANT
ASPECT OF AMERICAN LIFE
A BRIEF EDITORIAL COMMENT: and an equally brief announcement.
With this issue we begin a slightly different approach to our comments on the
current news events of interest and concern to American Christians: we will
summarize several briefly, and discuss one in greater detail. And we will continue
to research and bring to you "What Others Are Saying" -- all part of our goal:
"We present the facts; you decide." In line with this new approach, this week's
Commentary will focus on the American Family, which has historically been
considered as the basic unit of the American way of life, until a small segment --
a very small segment -- of our population began their campaign to make the
homosexual life style acceptable, even though it is contrary to Christian tradition,
and the clear teaching of the Word of God, the Bible.
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"The sum which two married people owe to one another defies calculation.
It is an infinite debt, which can only be discharged through eternity."
-- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
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DESPITE ALL THE EFFORTS TO DESTROY IT, THE FAMILY,
BASED ON THE BIBLE AND TRADITION, REMAINS A
MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT OF AMERICAN LIFE
We have often referred to the ministry of Billy Graham, who for more than 50
years evangelized this nation and the world. During the momentous decade of
the '50s, when the threat of an atheistic Communist USSR was our greatest
international concern, Mr. Graham often preached that the family was the basic
unit of American society ... destroy the family, and you destroy the American
way of life as we have known it.
He was right, of course, but the concept of the importance of the family did not
originate with him. In 295 B.C., Confucian scholar Mencius wrote, "The root
of the kingdom is in the state. The root of the state is in the family." Both
Mencius and Billy Graham spoke of the time before a relatively small group
of homosexuals -- representing perhaps 2 - 4% of our population -- began their
drive to ignore tradition and God's law, and make the concept of "same-sex
marriage" lawful. Massachusetts was the first state to do so, in 2004 -- to date,
4 other states (Connecticut, Iowa, New Hampshire and Vermont) and the
Disrict of Columbia allow same-sex marriage, with California and New York
close to a decision to join them. But contrary to that trend is the fact that 63
million voters in 31 states -- by an average majority of 63% -- have recently
adopted amendments to their constitutions establishing marriage as solely
between a man and a woman. Most recently, between May 16-19, a national
scientific survey conducted by Public Opinion Strategies, showed that 62% of
Americans support the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman.
And this is as the Bible has always taught us, beginning with the first chapter
of Genesis, "...male and female created he them. And God blessed them,
and said, Be fruitful and multiply . . ." (Gen. 1:27-27) And that theme
continues all the way through the Scriptures, for example, "Marriage is
honorable ..." (Hebrews 13:4)
Michael Savage, Conservative commentator, recently wrote on this subject:
"Gay marriage is an oxymoron; it is a mockery of marriage by radical
homosexuals who wish to destroy one of the last cornerstones of our
culture." And he reminded us that Karl Marx, in his Communist Manifesto,
derided marriage and the family in these words: "The bourgeois claptrap
about the family and education, about the hallowed co-relation of parent
and child, becomes all the more disgusting … On what foundation is the
present family, the bourgeois family, based? On capital, on private gain. ..
The bourgeois family will vanish as a matter of course ... with the
vanishing of capital."
It must be a matter of deep concern on the part of American Christians to see
our president so dedicated to the support of the agenda of the homosexuals
and to note his repeated assurances to them that he has not forgotten the
promises he made to them. We also note his repeated statement of his intent
to seek repeal of the Defense of Mariage Act (DOMA), the most important
national protection of traditional marriage that we have in our country.
And there is a further correlation with Karl Marx's statement of Communist
principles which must concern us; it is seen in the concept of a need for change.
Marx wrote: "The philosophers have only interpreted the world in various
ways; the point, however, is to change it." On Oct. 31, 2008, just prior
to election day, candidate Obama said, "We are five days away from
fundamentally transforming the United States of America." And his
overall campaign slogan was, as you will recall, "Hope and Change."
To conclude this commentary, history has established that marriage and the
family constitute the solid foundation of our civilization. To refer back to Billy
Graham: destroy the family, and you will destroy America. But despite the
facts of history, homosexual activists -- with a voice far more powerful than
their small numbers would indicate, are united to do everything possible to
persuade the American people to give up on the traditions of marriage and
the family. Most recently -- just this past week during the annual meeting of
the Southern Baptist Convention in Phoenix, AZ -- a delegation of homosexual
advocates under the name of "Get Equal" met with SBC President Bryant
Wright, and demanded that the Southern Baptists apologize for their use of
the Scriptures to criticize the homosexual lifestyle. Dr. Wright refused to yield
to their demands, saying that Scripture is clear on that issue. But the battle, let
alone the war, is not over, and the homosexuals will doubtless continue their
attacks on the Christian churches, the Bible and the overwhelming viewpoint of
the American people as demonstrated in current polls, and the ongoing
governmental actions by so many states.
That constitutes our full length commentary for this week; now here
are our brief summaries of other key issues which are confronting us,
not treated in depth or detail, and not listed in order of importance.
(1) The continuing Israeli-Palestinian problem. Our friend, Mat Staver,
founder and president of Liberty Counsel, is in Israel, and this week sent this
message: "Every Israeli leader I have encountered believes that President
Obama's call for Israeli-Palestinian borders to be realigned to their 1967
status, including a divided Jerusalem, is a recipe for disaster and can only
lead to escalating conflict." He also added two foundational tenets for peace
which must be non-negotiable: "(1) Palestine must acknowledge Israel's
right to exist as a state; and (2) Jerusalem must never be divided again."
Of this he may be certain: American Christians stand firmly with him on these
principles. Peace in the Middle East, particularly involving Israel and Palestine,
remains elusive, and will continue to be so as long as Mr. Obama sides with
Palestine Muslims against our long time ally, Israel.
(2) A brief update on our continuing unemployment problem. Despite
the constantly repeated claims by spokespersons for the Obama administration
about the hundreds of thousands -- even millions -- of new jobs created by the
much touted, but obviously unsuccessful "stimulus program," the facts tell a
much different story. In Feb. 2009, shortly after Obama took office, the
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that 141.7 million people were
employed. Now more than two years later, at the end of May, 2011, that
number has fallen to 139.8 million -- showing that after all the $800 billion
"stimulus" spending, there are 1.9 million fewer people employed. In just the
first half of his first term as president, Mr. Obama's massive spending plans
have lost nearly 2 million jobs for American workers. And as a reminder, in
this "Summer of Recovery" (to use an Obama phrase), we have seen the
unemployment percentage stay above 9%. These are the facts; don't let the
teleprompted oratory deceive you.
(3) "Freedom of Choice" has become a Democrat position, as support
for taxpayer dollars to fund abortion mills like Planned Parenthood is firmly
part of the Obama program. In just the 38 years, since the ill-conceived
Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade made abortion legal, some 50 million
babies have been killed. It is difficult to think that any Christian -- of whatever
denomination -- could support this violation of God's commndment, "Thou
shalt not kill." While Mr. Obama and the Democrats grasp abortion as their
position, by default, the Republicans hold to the Right to Life as theirs.
writing in Conservative Outpost, reminds us that America has a real prison
problem. In fact, never before in history has any country imprisoned so many
of its people. For example, we have more people in prison than does China,
and China has a billion more population than America. And this problem has
shown almost overnight growth. In the 70s, just 40 years ago, there were
338,000 people in prison. Today that total is 2.3 million -- more prisoners
than we have soldiers. The situation in California recently made the news
when the Supreme Court ordered that 33,000 prisoners be relocaed to other
facilities or be released. Neither option is suitable, but the seriousness of the
problem is very evident. And this is not just a California problem.
Those are the current issues we decided to comment on this week. It
is obviously not a complete or exhaustive list, but it does provide some issues
which merit the consideration and prayer attention of American Christians. We
have been maintaining a count-down of days remaining to our next Election Day,
Nov. 6, 2012. As of today, there are just 503 days until that date -- 503 days
to pray for our nation and its leaders . . . for our military service personnel on
duty in so many parts of the world . . . and for God's wisdom and direction as
we go to the polls, 503 days from today, to vote for leadership which will lead
America back to the kind of nation our Founding Fathers intended it to be.
To help keep you informed, we use our research facilities to bring you
"What Others Are Saying" about major elements of the day's news.
Jack Marshall, writing in Ethics Alarms: "The Obama administration,
despite its leader’s stirring words in the 2008 campaign, has already
shown itself capable of outrageous misrepresentations ... So we
shouldn’t be surprised, only nauseated, when it tells Congress ... that
U.S.participation in the Libyan uprising doesn’t fall under War Powers
Resolution."
Timothy H. Lee (writing in Center for Individual Freedom): "Professor
John Lott, economic scholar and foremost authority on the deadly real-
world consequences of gun 'control' laws across the globe, labeled Barack
Obama 'undoubtedly the most anti-gun candidate ever nominated by a
major party for President.' Well, that apparently depends on who possesses
the gun. If you're a law-abiding American citizen, the Obama Administration
would prefer that you remain defenseless. ... But if you're a potential gun
trafficker with connections to Mexican drug cartels? Then you're in luck."
Walter E. Williams (Economics Professor, George Mason University):
"Since government has no resources of its own, and since there's no Tooth
Fairy handing Congress the funds for the programs it enacts, we are
forced to recognize that government spending is no less than the
confiscation of one person's property to give it to another to whom it does
not belong -- in effect, legalized theft."
And here are a few random "Afterthoughts" . . .
Doubtful if it makes any difference, but another of Mr. Obama's inner
circle of White House appointees, Vivek Kundra, the man tapped by President
Obama to be the nation's first ever federal Chief Information Officer, will be
leaving his post later this Summer to take a position at Harvard. His two White
House associates, Aneesh Chopra, Chief Technology Officer, and Jeffrey Zints,
Chief Performance Officer, are apparently still on the job. Amazing that this
country succeeded so many years without these unique Obama concepts of
advisory personnel. One can only think, with longing, of how far we might
have gone without these "Chief Officers."
NBC-TV cut the words “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance in the
introduction to its coverage of the U.S. Open last week. Jack Marshall, whom
we often quote from his Ethics Alarms column, rightly called this omission
"an audacious and inexcusable unilateral kowtow to political correctness."
The network made a sort of apology, something to the effect that they are sorry
if anyone was offended. But Mr. Marshall went further in his objection to their
action, and we agree with him on this point as we so often do on other violations
of ethics: "What’s next, NBC? Removing that upsetting stuff about bombs
in 'The Star Spangled Banner?' Changing the lyrics of 'God Bless America'
to 'I Like America?' What’s going to rhyme with 'From sea to shining sea'
in your version of 'America the Beautiful,' since 'God shed his grace on thee'
is politically incorrect ... 'Let's have some wine and Brie?' ... 'Stay tuned to
NBC?'" But the MLM (Main Line Media) can pretty much do as it chooses.
This gaffe sounds more like Joe Biden! A few days ago Mr. Obama
demonstrated his grasp of some aspects of our economic problem in these
words, "There are some structural issues with our economy where a lot
of businesses have learned to become much more efficient with a lot
fewer workers. You see it when you go to a bank and you use an ATM,
you don't go to a bank teller, or you go to the airport and you're using a
kiosk instead of going to the gate." In other words, the reason companies
are not hiring workers is not due to his policies -- it's because the economy is
so automated. Apparently, in his way of thinking, we didn't have ATMs or
airport check-in kiosks until sometime after Jan. 20, 2009.
Our Founding Fathers' "politically incorrect" quotes are important,
and remind us of the kind of a nation America was intended to be.
"The sacred rights of mankind are not to be rummaged for, among old
parchments or musty records. They are written, as with a sunbeam, in
the whole volume of human nature, by the hand of the divinity itself,
and can never be erased or obscured by mortal power."
-- Alexander Hamilton, 1775
"The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence
were the general principles of Christianity." -- John Adams, 1813
"The hope of a Christian is inseparable from his faith. Whoever believes
in the divine inspiration of the Holy Scriptures must hope that the religion
of Jesus shall prevail throughout the earth." -- John Quincy Adams, 1825
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