Wednesday
WHAT WOULD YOUR ANSWER BE?
November 30, 2011 of our 9th consecutive year of publication
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A thought for today, for this week, and for the weeks to come:
"We must stress that the basis for our faith is neither experience
nor emotion, but the truth as God has given it in verbalized,
prepositional form in the Scripture."
Francis Schaeffer, 1972
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IF YOU WERE ASKED WHAT IS THE GREATEST PROBLEM
WE FACE, AS CHRISTIANS LIVING IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, WHAT WOULD YOUR ANSWER BE?
Are you seriously concerned about our nation's prospects? If so, you've got lots
of company. According to a recent poll commissioned by The Hill, a Washington
based daily publication, 69% of American voters say the US is declining, and 83 %
of voters describe themselves as worried (actually, 49 % say say they are very
worried ) about the country's future. From an international perspective, the Pew
Research Center reported from a separate poll: "many now see the financially-
strapped US as a great power in decline." Among respondents in 18 countries,
47% expect China to replace the United States as the world's leading power. Only
36% disagree.
Ronald Reagan often declared, "America's best days are yet to come," but last
month a Rasmussen survey reported that just 37% of likely voters felt that way,
and 45% thought that America's best days were past.
So what do you see as the greatest problem we face? Because our primary
emphasis is "pro-Christian," perhaps the primary concern to express might be in
the religious area, and the clear departure from more than 200 years of American
history in President Obama's ignoring of our nation's foundation of historic Judeo-
Christian principles. Not only has he consistently ignored any recognition of
Christian observances and instead celebrates Islamic holy days, but just last week
in his Thanksgiving proclamation he left out any reference to God, substituting
"community" as the blessing to be celebrated, and stated that he and his family
would spend Thanksgiving day “eating great food, watching a little football,
and reflecting on how truly lucky we are.”
A distinct change from the Thanksgiving Day proclamations of Washington and
Lincoln, and every American president since . . . and a change also from the
beliefs of most Americans for whom Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on how
blessed and thankful to God we are. And to those defenders of Mr. Obama who
argue that his omission of God was "accidental," we respond that you don't just
"accidentally" forget to mention God in a Thanksgiving address.
And we have said nothing about the Obama led support for same-sex marriage,
and the repeal of federal law in defense of marriage, and the support of the use
of abortions on individual choice which have already killed some 50 million
babies since the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision in 1973. All are maters
of serious concern for Christians.
But perhaps your primary concern is over the growth of Islam . . . and
there is valid reason for such concern. There is some notable growth in Islam in
America, but not to the extent of its tremendous growth in the European nations
where the influence of Christianity has been replaced with the increasing socialistic
trends in national life. But the year 2011 has seen an unprecedented Islamic take-
over of the governments of Arab nations across the Middle East.
It all started in Tunisia in January in a series of protests, leading to the removal of
the tyrannical ruler, Zine el Abidine Ben Ali. After an appointed interim Prime
Minister, in October an election was held, and Hamadi Jebali of the Islamic
Ennahdha party, was named as the new prime minister. Jebali announced that he
and his party will be the "6th Islamic Rightly Guided Caliph," and he also
promised that Jerusalem will be freed from Jewish occupation.
The unrest in the area next manifested itself in Egypt in February, with Obama and
Clinton supporting and encouraging the removal of long-time President Hosni
Mubarak, mistakenly interpreting "mob rule" for "democracy." Under the
replacement government, Egyptian Christians were persecuted, murdered and
their churches destroyed -- largely under a militarily controlled government, but it
is the military to whom America gives over $1.2 billion annually. Yet as elections
began this week, the Obama administration turned on the military and issued this
statement: “Full transfer of power to a civilian government must take place
in a just and inclusive manner that responds to the legitimate aspirations
of the Egyptian people, as soon as possible.”
And the "civilian government" waiting to take control is the Muslim Brotherhood,
and as a result, Israel's major friend in the Middle East will now become its major
enemy as Egypt is turned into an Islamist state. Meantime, Egypt is in disarray;
the economy is worsening, unemployment is rising, living standards are rapidly
deteriorating, and in the past eight months more civilians have been tried in military
courts than happened in all the 30 years of Mubarak’s reign.
In Obama's "non war" war in Libya, the mobs which defeated (and then killed)
Gaddafi have splintered and are now behaving like street gangs seeking revenge
against Gaddafi supporters and rival tribes. Post-Civil War Libya is neither
peaceful or democratic as the Western media predicted it would be. And the
present "leaders" have declared that that Islam and Sharia Law will be the basis
for the new government. Such unrest is a perfect situation in which Islamic terrorist
organizations can flourish, and a likely goal for Al Qaeda would be to secure the
chemical weapons left behind by the Gaddafi regime.
And then there is Morocco, where the "Justice and Development Party" (PJD) --
termed a "moderate" Islamic party (if there is such) -- won a majority of seats in
last week's election, and thus in Morocco will be one more Islamist party to lead
a government in the area since the so-called "Arab Spring" uprisings which have
taken place this year.
Meantime Iraq remains in a splintered form of the nation which Saddam Hussein
ruled, with Islamic parties in control but not at all united . . . and Iran remains an
Islamic theocracy, violently opposed to Israel, the United States, and as of this
week: Great Britain.
So if you are concerned over the increase in power by Islam -- and the
encouragement toward that end by Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton -- you
obviously have good reason for such concern.
Or if the economy is your primary concern . . . here, too, you have valid
reasons for your concern. Just a thumbnail sketch of the present economic
situation is not encouraging. The stock market continues in wild swings from
plus to minus and back again. The housing market, once the most important and
dependable asset for most Americans, has plummeted, and foreclosures have
become commonplace. Unemployment remains "officially" at 9%, with more
realistic numbers being in the 12% range, or higher. The number of persons living
in poverty levels, and the number existing on food stamps are at new highs. And
for the long term -- our astronomic national debt -- now above $15 trillion --
poses a disastrous future for our children.
And now the financial crisis -- or crises -- in Europe threaten any achievable
recovery, not only domestically but also internationally.
So concerns about our present and future are valid, reasonable and real.
And that brings us to our 8 month "count down for prayer" for the 2012
national election. We began urging prayer for this election on March 30 of this
year, and as of today there are 342 days till Nov. 6, 2012. We have always
urged prayer for our nation and for wisdom for its leaders, and for us to know
God's direction as we vote on Nov. 6 to restore America to the nation it was
intended to be. And we have also urged prayer for our fellow believers all over
the world who are daily facing persecution and death for their faith. In just the
past few days we have received word from northern Nigeria where last week
Fulani Muslims shouting “Allahu Akbar" killed 45 Christians, some by beheading,
and burned another church. And just this week members of the Boko Haram
Islamic sect bombed a police station and a bank and burned shops in the village
of Gaidan.
As the "Elite Media" gets more biased, and less dependable, it's more
important to read "What Others Are Saying."
Gary Shilling (writing in Forbes Newsletter): "I am sorry to report that
the global economic outlook is getting darker by the day. Here at home,
unemployment remains high and economic growth continues to be weak.
Consumer confidence is waning. Housing remains in the dumps. Meanwhile,
stocks have plunged more than 10% since April."
John Ransom (Financial Editor): "Being president was always easy for
John Ransom (Financial Editor): "Being president was always easy for
Barack Obama. That is, it was easy up until the time he actually was elected
president. Then things got a little tougher. In part, Obama’s troubles stem
from the rigidity of his broken ideas. They admit of no compromise.
Consequently, he has subsumed his whole personality into an unworkable
ideology that was dead outside of academia- and news rooms- until he
resurrected it."
Skip MacLure (in Conservative Outpost): "It appears as though our
‘Republican’ candidates have once again forgotten how to spell the word
illegal...Our assumed first-tier candidates have been pussy-footing around
illegal immigration like social workers daintily stepping around piles of poo
at ‘Occupy Oakland’, or one of the other super-fund cleanup sites engendered
by the useless, wasted piles of human garbage that inhabit these places."
Reporting on the removal of a cross from an Army chapel in Afghanistan . . .
Godfather Politics: "America has been compromising its Christian heritage
with Islamic nations for more than two centuries. It didn’t work then, and
it’s not going to work now. Europe abandoned its Christian heritage long ago
in the name of religious pluralism, adopted secularism as a state religion, and
if demographic reports are accurate will be Islamic in less than 50 years."
(Comment: So it’s OK to blow up and shoot and kill Afghans, but it’s illegal to
(Comment: So it’s OK to blow up and shoot and kill Afghans, but it’s illegal to
share the gospel with them.)
Michael Youssef (in www.michaelyoussef.com): "It is the ...vacillation and
accommodation on the part of Mr. Obama that has emboldened the Islamists
around the world. As a result, we have seen jihadist-led bloodbaths from
Yemen to Syria and from Libya to Egypt...It is not too late for Mr. Obama to
admit he was wrong and change his policy. In fact, it would be very
courageous for him to say, 'I was wrong about the Islamists.' Then he could
reverse his policy of accommodation, fire his Islamist advisers in the White
House and the State Department and start anew — with a clean slate of
truthfulness and honesty."
Ken Blackwell and Ken Klukowski (Washington based columnists):
"Socialism provides entitlements through massive taxation, and also believes
that heavy government regulation leads to a better society. It does all this in
the name of 'social justice.' No honest person can deny that President Obama's
policies fit these criteria ... Arrogance and incompetence are a toxic
combination. This White House and its cronies are overflowing with both."
Tony Rubolotto (writing in New Media Journal):"We elect morally inferior
people to office, expect them to buy us whatever we want, whether it is
Constitutional or not, and then are outraged when they act like spendthrifts
and then demand we pay the bill."
And, of course, we found a few "One Liners" that might interest you:
Richard Lamm (former Governor of Colorado): "Christmas is a time when
kids tell Santa what they want and adults pay for it. Deficits are when adults
tell the government what they want and their kids pay for it."
Vision to America: "The Stimulus: Jump starting a car with no engine."
Pamela Geller (in Atlas Shrugs): "There is no moderate Islam; there is no
extreme Islam; Islam is Islam."
And a voice from the past:
Adolf Hitler: "How fortunate for governments that people do not think.
There is no thinking except in giving and executing commands. If it were
otherwise human society could not exist."
And here are a few "Afterthoughts," selected purely at random . . .
An old name tops the list of influential Christian leaders. He hasn't
preached a sermon in years. At age 93, not in the best of health, he lives in
semi-seclusion in the mountains of North Carolina, but a recent Barna Group
survey names Billy Graham as the most influential Christian leader in America.
Pope Benedict XVI was the runner-up in distant second place, and Franklin
Graham, Billy's son, out-ranked other familiar names. Notable was the lack
of any recognition for any of the voices of the "religious left," or the self-styled
"liberal Evangelicals." His long time national and international ministry has not
been forgotten nor has it been diminished by time.
Could we be witnessing the start of another "cold war" with Russia? Both
Russian President Medvedev and Prime Minister Putin (soon to be president
again), have threatened to aim its missiles at the U.S. missile defense sites if
Russia's concerns about our missile defense shield aren't met. And they threatened
to opt out of the New Start arms control agreement they had entered into with
President Obama. There are some aspects of present day Russia that we are often
inclined to overlook -- Russia is the No. 1 oil producer in the world, the No. 1 oil
exporter in the world, the No. 1 exporter of natural gas in the world , and has the
second most powerful military in the word.
And we may be contemplating a new "cold war" with China in Mr. Obama's recent
statement that the U.S. is a Pacific nation, and that "We intend to play a larger
and long-term role in shaping this region and its future." Speaking almost in
terms of a "cold war" with China, he said, “I have directed my national security
team to make our presence and missions in the Asia Pacific a top priority.”
In case anyone is paying attention: Holiday shoppers, as they have for several
years, would prefer to be greeted with signs reading “Merry Christmas” rather than
“Happy Holidays” this season. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone
survey of American Adults shows that 70% prefer that stores use signs that say
“Merry Christmas.”
On almost every subject, our Founding Fathers expressed viewpoints
which are applicable to the America of today . . .
"The ordaining of laws in favor of one part of the nation, to the prejudice
and oppression of another, is certainly the most erroneous and mistaken
policy. An equal dispensation of protection, rights, privileges, and
advantages, is what every part is entitled to, and ought to enjoy."
--Benjamin Franklin, 1774
"No free government, or the blessings of liberty, can be preserved to any
people but by a firm adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, frugality,
and virtue; and by a frequent recurrence to fundamental principles.”
-- Patrick Henry, 1788
"There can be no greater error than to expect, or calculate upon real favors
from Nation to Nation. 'Tis an illusion which experience must cure, which a
just pride ought to discard... 'Tis our true policy to steer clear of permanent
Alliances, with any portion of the foreign world." -- George Washington, 1796
"A rigid economy of the public contributions and absolute interdiction of
all useless expenses will go far towards keeping the government honest and
unoppressive." -- Thomas Jefferson, 1823
And that concludes this week's issue of your pro-Christian, pro-American,
pro Conservative commentary . . . now if you would like to have a modest share
in helping to keep this one-of-a-kind publication coming your way, please click
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