Wednesday
SERIOUS PROBLEMS EXIST!
Wednesday, February 15, 2012 of our 10th year of publication
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From one of our great presidents, a thought for today and years to come:
“Without God there is no virtue because there is no prompting of the
conscience … without God there is a coarsening of the society;
without God democracy will not and cannot long endure…
America needs God more than God needs America.
If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God,
then we will be a Nation gone under.”
President Ronald Reagan, 1984
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ANC CONTINUES TO COMMENT FRANKLY AND OPENLY ON
ANC CONTINUES TO COMMENT FRANKLY AND OPENLY ON
SUBJECTS THE LIBERAL MEDIA IGNORES -- SERIOUS
PROBLEMS EXIST HERE AT HOME AND ABROAD
As our regular readers are well aware, we close each issue of ANC with quotes
from our nation's Founding Fathers for two reasons: [1] they were wise men,
and their vision for America went far beyond the time in which they spoke, and
[2] their words remind us of the kind of a nation they were establishing, which is
something we may tend to forget in the busy pace of 21st century life.
Today's issue will once again close with some of those quotes, but we will also
begin this issue with some statements from those leaders concerning perhaps the
most important issue confronting us as American Christians today. From James
Madison, in 1785: "Religion is the basis and Foundation of Government."
And from John Adams in 1812: "Nothing is more dreaded than the national
government meddling with religion."
The primary subject for concern this week is the attempted attack by the Obama
administration on the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution -- which, by way
of reminder, states: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment
of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof ..." Apparently Mr. Obama
takes the position that he is not subject to any such restraint.
And in support of those concerns, Dr. Michael Milton, Chancellor of Reformed
Theological Seminary, wrote last week: "All other freedoms are grounded in
the fundamental freedom to worship God as we understand it, and to
assemble freely to do so." And to bring this issue into sharpest focus, Brent
Bozell, President of Media Research Center, expressed it in these words: "The
Obama administration is waging war on Christianity. Somehow, the
networks haven't seen this as newsworthy."
At issue is the Obama administration's mandate that would force members
of Christian faiths whose religious beliefs oppose birth control and abortion, to
take part in the provision of such procedures. Siding with Mr. Obama, Senator
Barbara Boxer (D, CA) tried to make it an issue of "medicine," saying: "It's
medicine and women deserve their medicine." [Senator Boxer needs to
understand that children aren't a disease, and the pill is not the cure. Medicine
is prescribed to treat illnesses--and pregnancy isn't one of them.]
On the other side of the Senate aisle, Senator Kelly Ayotte (R, NH) said, "This
is not a women’s rights issue. This is a religious liberty issue." And Senator
Marco Rubio (R, FL) said, "The issue is not contraception, but whether the
government of the United States should have the power to go in and tell a
faith-based organization that they have to pay for something that they teach
their members shouldn’t be done. It’s that simple. And if the answer is yes,
then this government can reach all kinds of other absurd results."
And Timothy Lee, of the Center for Individual Freedom, summarized it this way,
"Freedom of religion is a Constitutional right. Indeed, it is our nation's most
foundational right. In contrast, the convenience of government-mandated
free contraceptives from religious institutions in violation of their fundamental
theology is not. Those two basic truths settle the merits of this week's sudden
collision between the Obama Administration and religious institutions."
But we all know how this flare-up ended, or seemed to end. The Obama White
House and its sycophantic main stream media [remember, sycophant is described
in the dictionary as "a self seeking, servile flatterer, a fawning parasite"] used
all the words in its book of spin words, called the president's solution a "compromise,"
an "adjustment," an "accommodation" and similar. In fact, the president realized that
he had gone too far ... that he was not just attacking Catholic beliefs, but widely held
Christian beliefs, making his mandate a literal attack on the First Amendment's right
of freedom of religion. Now when the mandate takes effect in August 2013, women
will still get the free much-objected-to-coverage, but the religious organizations won't
have to pay for it. Instead, insurance companies will have to provide the service
directly to the employees at no cost. No cost? Who is the president kidding? We,
the general public, will pay for the coverage through increased insurance premiums
across the board.
The Obama "compromise" was not well received by religious leaders. William Donahue,
head of the Catholic League spoke of the mandate as “the most serious infringement
by the federal government on the rights of Catholics and others in 200 years ...
Quite frankly, he’s adding insult to injury. He must think the Catholics are stupid.”
But this is one instance where the "Main Stream Media" got it right. CBS News chief
Washington correspondent, Bob Schieffer, said the White House folded on the issue,
calling it a "political blunder." And even Washington Post editor, Melinda
Henneberger, said on MSNBC: “Maybe the Founders were wrong to guarantee
free exercise of religion in the First Amendment but that is what they did and I
don’t think we have to choose here.” And in the site, Godfather Politics, there
was this hard hitting summation, "The President’s latest attack on the American
people by mandating that employers cover contraception is a blatant attack on
the Constitution and the freedom of ALL Americans, not just those who hold a
particular religious view on contraception. His so-called compromise that
insurance companies pay for birth control pills is one of the most audacious
power grabs in the history of government. What’s next?"
A sobering thought: "Every single day, a silent horror kills more Americans
than were killed on 9/11. Every single year, this silent horror kills about as
many Americans as have been killed on all the battlefields in all of the wars
in U.S. history combined. This silent horror is called abortion, and it is a
national disgrace. Overall, more than 50 million babies have been slaughtered
since Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973. We have become a nation with so little
regard for human life that nobody even really talks that much about this issue
anymore." (From The American Dream)
Internationally, the situation is equally deplorable. Here is a brief summary.
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and national security expert Judith Miller says
Christians and other minorities face a "very grim" future as the radical Muslim
Brotherhood inevitably comes to power in Egypt and other Arab countries.
"There is a reluctance to acknowledge what is happening, which is that these
revolutionary movements that were spearheaded largely by secular, liberal
young people have been taken over by Islamist forces..." The United States
now faces a region that is going to be increasingly Islamic, increasingly intolerant to
minorities, particularly Christians, and to alternative ... points of view. According to
Newsweek magazine, a largely unrecognized global war on Christians is underway.
"Christians are being killed in the Islamic world because of their religion,"
writes columnist Ayaan Hirsi Ali, "It is a rising genocide that ought to provoke
global alarm."
In Iraq, less than two months into the New Year, Iraqi authorities have executed at
least 65 people so far in 2012. In Syria, Christians remain wary of what “change”
might mean for their country, looking to Iraq, where their fellow believers in Christ
are now making a mass exodus as a result of the attacks they have faced, and Egypt,
where the prospect of an Islamist government has been matched by on-going attacks
on Christians in a way not previously seen under deposed President Hosni Mubarak.
In Nigeria, the Islamist group, Boko Haram, aims to establish sharia (Islamic law)
and has stated it will kill all Christians in the country. In Sudan, tens of thousands of
Christians have been displaced from their homes, subjected to targeted killings,
kidnapping and bomb attacks. And Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,
last week announced that Iran will support any nation or group that attacks the
“cancerous tumor” of Israel, and said the opportunity must not be lost to remove
"this corrupting material" and that it is a "jurisprudential justification” to kill
all the Jews and annihilate Israel, and that "the Islamic government of Iran must
take the helm.”
So much for the unfulfilled promise of Mr. Obama's much heralded "Arab Spring."
That brief overview of some of the day's problems should confirm the need
for the count-down of prayer for our national election on Nov. 6. As of today,
there are 265 days till that election ... 265 days to pray for our nation and for
wisdom to be given to our leaders. Jonathan Falwell, son of the late and much
missed Jerry Falwell, spoke this week of the moral value issues confronting us:
"Even when the tides of our social and political cultures change, Christians
must stand firm on the Word of God, compassionately calling all to believe
and follow Him....."
The best way to keep you advised of viewpoints which are totally ignored
by the "Main Stream Media" is to bring you "What Others Are Saying"
Joel Rosenberg: "With our national debt skyrocketing, our politics divided,
many marriages and families crumbling, and the growing threat of another
war in the Middle East, one thing is clear: 2012 is going to be a critical year
for the United States. Will the Church step up and be the shining city on the
hill that Jesus called her to be?...Or will we continue rejecting God's mercy
and see our decline accelerate into a national death spiral?
The Steady Conservative: "Today the Bible and its lessons have been
removed from schools, which certainly was never the intention of those
who formed this nation...Christianity seems to be under increasing attack;
so I do believe it is important for Christians to take a stand in such
matters. We can also pray that God will take situations such as this…
that are meant for evil…and use them for His good."
Kathleen Parker (a Washington Post Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist):
"These immediate battles may be about abortion or contraception, but
ultimately they are about whether we stand firm on our nation’s core beliefs
in freedom of conscience and religious liberty...The fundamental question is:
Who are we? As we individually search for the answer, we know this much:
Coercion and intimidation are the tools of mobs and tyrants and have no
place in this calculus."
Ann Coulter (in re the Dems attacking Romney's wealth): "Democrats are
very proud of the rich, patrician FDR – who inherited all of his money and
then launched a series of federal entitlements designed to bankrupt America
60 years later. JFK also inherited his wealth, from a father who made his
money as a bootlegger and stock manipulator. (In their defense, both men
went on to create lots of jobs for bartenders and prostitutes.)"
Glenn Greenwald (human rights commentator): “The U.S. first kills people
with drones, then fires on the rescuers and others who arrive at the scene
where the new corpses and injured victims lie. The theory is that when
you kill a bad guy, the odds are that bad guys are the ones most likely to
show up at his funeral or to try to recover his body. Nice theory... Whatever
else is true, it seems highly likely that Barack Obama is the first Nobel
Peace laureate who, after receiving his award, presided over the deliberate
targeting of rescuers and funeral mourners of his victims.”
The Heritage Foundation: "Thousands are dead in Syria, with more
blood spilled each day. Iran is within arm's reach of a nuclear weapon,
threatening Israel's very existence. And in Egypt, 19 Americans are
banned from leaving the country, making them veritable hostages in an
unfriendly land. All indications are that the Middle East is crumbling,
and President Barack Obama's foreign policy is collapsing right along
with it."
Jay Sekulow (ACLJ Chief Counsel): "Israel is facing grave danger, and
news reports say that President Obama won't assist in defending Israel.
In fact, he has actually issued a warning to Israel not to take military
action against Iran. Unbelievable. President Obama actually told our
greatest ally in one of the most dangerous areas of the world: don't
defend yourself."
Conservative News Alerts: "Iran grows more aggressive by the day. Riots
and upheavals, fueled by the Muslim Brotherhood are taking place in Egypt,
Syria and all over the Middle East. What was proclaimed to be an 'Arab
Spring' is now becoming a winter of discontent. Europe is heading into
bankruptcy and Barack Hussein Obama is almost single-handedly
transforming the United States of America into a socialist country."
And, as always, in our research we found several interesting "One Liners"
President Barack Obama in an interview with NBC's Matt Lauer: "I deserve a
second term, but we're not done ... One of the things about being president
is you get better as time goes on.”
Former MA Governor Mitt Romney: "Barack Obama is the poster child for
the arrogance of government,"
George Will: "Historians will marvel that American liberalism in the first
part of the 21st century is defined as defense of abortion.”
Cal Thomas: "The president is mistaken when he interprets Scripture to
achieve his political goals."
Black actor Samuel L. Jackson (in Ebony Magazine): "I voted for Barack
because he was black." [No comment as to what degree he was right.]
Human Events: "Barack Obama is willfully, routinely shredding the
Constitution to create national policy literally WITHOUT congressional
approval..."
And this further quote from the above mentioned Obama interview with Matt Lauer:
"What’s frustrated people is that I have not been able to force Congress to
implement every aspect of what I said in 2008. Well, it turns out our Founders
designed a system that makes it more difficult to bring about change that I
would like ... what I’m going to keep on doing is plot away, very persistent."
And here are a few "Afterthoughts" from our research this week . . .
Serious violence close to home. The Department of State has just issued a
new Travel Warning to inform U.S. citizens about the security situation in Mexico.
Crime and violence are serious problems throughout the country and can occur
anywhere. U.S. citizens have fallen victim to TCO (Transnational Criminal
Organizations) activity, including homicide, gun battles, kidnapping, carjacking
and highway robbery. Our government gets tremendously aroused over a few
hundred or even a few thousand killings in Muslim countries, while just below
our common border with Mexico, since December, 2006 some 48,000 people
have been killed. The Obama administration has turned a blind eye to all this
violence -- no, that isn't exactly true. They did something -- they have supplied
American-made guns to the TCO through the "Fast and Furious" program.
In Australia, the need for God is openly observed. This Sunday, Feb. 19,
a National Day of Prayer and Fasting will be observed at Parliament House in
the nation's capitol, Canberra, and in churches, homes and public places all
over the nation. The purpose of this call to prayer is for the renewal and
transformation of Australia as a nation with Jesus Christ as Lord. [We used
to speak like that here in America.]
You may have missed this official announcement by the U.S. Department
of Defense, that the Fort Hood incident in Nov. 2009, where a Muslim soldier
screaming "Allah Akbar" as he shot and killed 13 other soldiers (14 if you
include an unborn child), was "workplace violence." To have considered these
murders to be "terrorism" would have not been "politically correct."
We began and close this issue with quotes from our Founding Fathers
"Human nature itself is evermore an advocate for liberty. There is also in
human nature a resentment of injury, and indignation against wrong. A
love of truth and a veneration of virtue. These amiable passions, are the
'latent spark.'"--John Adams, 1775
From a somewhat unfamiliar Founding Father: "It is not the purpose nor
right of Congress to attend to what generosity and humanity require,
but to what the Constitution and their duty require."
-- William Branch Giles, 1796
but to what the Constitution and their duty require."
-- William Branch Giles, 1796
And there is this week's issue of ANC . . . heavily loaded and presenting
news and evaluations of current events you won't find anywhere else. If you
would like to help keep this publication continuing, please click on one of the
"Support" links and do your part to continue the availability of ANC.
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