Wednesday
PRO-GOD vs ANTI-GOD;
AND PRO-CHRISTIAN
vs ANTI-CHRISTIAN!
The American News Commentary
"Pro-Christian, Pro-American, Pro-Conservative"
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Vol. 18, No. 19 May 16, 2012 © 2012
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A timely collection of thoughts for today and the days to come:
"Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord"
"I am the Lord, I change not"
"Choose you this day whom ye will serve"
"It is more important to know that we are on God's side"
Psalm 33:12; Malachi 3:6; Joshua 24:15; President Abraham Lincoln
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THE INITIAL SHOCK HAS WORN OFF; THE CONCLUSION IS
CLEAR -- THE DIVISION IN AMERICA IS NOT POLITICAL,
IT IS NOW RELIGIOUS: PRO-GOD vs ANTI-GOD; AND
PRO-CHRISTIAN vs ANTI-CHRISTIAN
In the week since his historic (or hysterical) pronouncement that he, the President
of the United States, claiming to be a Christian believer, has decided that he now
supports the concept of same-sex "marriage," just about everyone who cares to
share his or her opinion on that subject has done so.
There is little point in repeating them, pro or con, here. You have read them,
almost ad nausem. They range from the unarguable scholarly treatment by Dr.
Albert Mohler, President of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary: "His call for
the legalization of same-sex marriage yesterday is an historic and tragic
milestone. An incumbent President of the United States has now called for
a transformation of civilization’s central institution...This is a sad day for
America...This is a sad day for marriage..." all the way to the view of one of
Obama's sycophants, one time Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi: "I think
that yesterday was a great day for America because the president in a very
personal, as well as presidential way, made history, and hopefully this will
bring people together on the issue."
Our often quoted Mat Staver, Chairman of Liberty Counsel, provided the most
concise evaluation of the president's pronouncement, from a pragmatic viewpoint:
"For most voters, this election will now be an easy choice." And to Franklin
Graham's equally brief and succinct evaluation that Obama has "shaken his fist"
at God, might be added that he has, so to speak, stuck his finger in the eye of the
the American people. He is catering to the 3.8% of the population of America
that the LGBT community represents, and ignoring the viewpoints of the 78%
who are Christians.
But this action re-directs attention to the president's religion. He continues
to claim to be a Christian, once using the self-described term that he is a "devout
Christian." And last week he said that he and Mrs. Obama are "practicing
Christians." But after his earlier attempt to find in the teaching of Jesus' approval
for same-sex "marriage," and ridiculing the Bible's condemnation of homosexuality
as being found in "an obscure passage in Romans," he now says that Jesus'
mention of the "Golden Rule" justifies his support of same-sex "marriage." The man's
lack of understanding -- his ignorance -- of the Bible is appalling. In declaring his
support for same-sex "marriage," he defined his faith, "when we think about our
faith the thing at root that we think about is ... the golden rule: treat others
the way you’d want to be treated.” But what he doesn't grasp is that when Jesus
referred to the "Golden Rule," He said -- "This is the law and the prophets."
In other words, He said: "This is the Old Testament." But He was bringing to the
world a new teaching -- the New Testament.
And for those who might say that Jesus never spoke against homosexuality -- He
did not because He was living in Old Testament times, and homosexuality was
clearly forbidden in His time, because the prohibitions against it found in Leviticus
were still in effect. But the transition is so clear in the Scripture, "The law was
given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." (John 1:17) And
for New Testament teaching on the subject, it is far more than Obama's "obscure
passage in Romans" -- it is Paul's teaching in Romans, I Corinthians and I Timothy.
And marriage is a sign of the mystery of Christ and His Church :"For the husband
is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church ... Husbands,
love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church." (Ephesians 5:23-25)
From the beginning of time, God instituted marriage as a covenant between one
man and one woman (Genesis 2:24) and God does not change.
And from an intellectual point of view, there also Obama's position is weak, even to
the point of being ludicrous, for he said he based his long evolving decision on some
conversations with his wife, and his 11 and 14 year old daughters. This is not the
type of reasoned thought we expect from our highest elected government official.
There are those overly charitable souls who say we should take him at his word,
and consider him to be a Christian. That is not a standard to be found in the Bible.
Jesus clearly said that there would be people who call him "Lord" and claim to do
good in His name, but He said He would say to them, "I never knew you." And
He gave us a far more accurate defining standard: "By their fruits ye shall know
them." (Matthew 7:20-23) With his support of same-sex "marriage" and abortion,
where is Obama by Jesus' standard?
Nor can he find justification for this position in the book which he labels as "the
Holy Quran." In Islamic terminology, homosexuality is alternatively called al-fahsha'
(an obscene act), shudhudh (abnormality), or 'amal qawm Lot (behavior of the
People of Lot). Islam teaches that believers should neither participate in nor support
homosexuality. Consider this verse from the Quran 7:80-81: "Do ye commit
lewdness such as no people in creation (ever) committed before you? For ye
practice your lusts on men in preference to women: ye are indeed a people
transgressing beyond bounds." (Among other equally strong prohibitions are:
26:165, 15:73 and 27:55-58) And from the Hadith there are these examples:
"When a man mounts another man, the throne of God shakes" and "Kill the
one that is doing it, and kill the one that it is being done to."
So by the instructions of the Islamic holy book, the Quran, homosexuality and
same-sex "marriage" are as strongly condemned as in the Christian Bible. But
Mr. Obama dismisses the teachings of both religions with this self-serving
comment, "it is important for me personally to go ahead and affirm that
same-sex couples should be able to get married." And he added this very
demeaning assessment of Christian believers, saying that he was "sensitive to
the fact that for a lot of people the word 'marriage' was something that
invokes very powerful traditions, religious beliefs and so forth."
It is not within the purview of ANC to decide or to even debate what Barack
Obama's religious faith is. If one is to follow the directive of Jesus Christ, we
are not to make such a decision on the basis of a person's words, but rather on
the basis of their fruit. From the non-Biblical moral standards held and espoused
by Mr. Obama, it would appear that he is not a Christian. Similarly, since he does
not hold to the teachings of the Islamic Quran, it would appear that he is not an
Islamic. And he is certainly not one of the other great world religions -- Judaism.
The one pervading element affecting his relationship with all of those religious
beliefs seems to be that he is anti-God. And so it might be concluded that in this
somewhat subtle manner he is expressing his evolvement into non-theistic belief,
but is not yet ready to announce that he is an atheist. That is not for us to decide.
We look back in agreement with Mat Staver's comment which we cited earlier,
"For most voters, this election will now be an easy choice."
Perhaps it is time for Mr. Obama to recall these words from our first
president, George Washington, in his first inaugural address in 1789:
"There exists in the economy and course of nature, an indissoluble union
between virtue and happiness; between duty and advantage; between the
genuine maxims of an honest and magnanimous policy, and the solid
rewards of public prosperity and felicity; since we ought to be no less
persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on
a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right, which Heaven
itself has ordained."
Some months ago we began telling our readers of a Prayer Countdown.
As of today, that time period to pray about the upcoming national election has
dropped to 174 days till Election Day, Nov. 6, 2012. That's less than 6 months
to pray for our nation . . . our leaders . . . and about how we should vote in
that election. The trends that we have discussed today should give guidance
in deciding on how our votes should be cast. And as we pray about America,
we must not forget to pray for the Christian cause all over the world. But we
must always remember that we are the true majority in our nation, and we can
affect the results of that election to restore America to being the nation it was
always intended to be.
Every week we lament the left-leaning slant of the "Main Stream Media,"
and offer, for your information, examples of "What Others Are Saying"
Michael A. Milton (CEO, Reformed Theol. Sem.): "The announcement
of a United States president (and vice president) publicly endorsing same-sex
marriage is to support that which God explicitly condemns. It is shameful
and a reproach to decency and honor and a sad commentary on the
regrettable departure of our national leaders from the biblical heritage that
has guided our country."
An Associated Press headline: "Around World: Obama's Presidency a
Disappointment" was followed by this summary: "In a world weary of war
and economic crises... the consensus is that Obama has not lived up to the
lofty expectations that surrounded his 2008 election and Nobel Peace Prize
a year later. Many in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America were
also taken aback by his support for gay marriage, a taboo subject among
religious conservatives."
From the Patriot Update: "What’s truly scary is that the Obama
Administration has become power hungry and is seeking to do exactly what
our Founding Fathers fought to prevent -- to dangerously expand the power
of the Executive Branch of government and make Obama an imperial
president. Obama has made his intentions to seize power clear, 'If Congress
refuses to act, I've said that I'll continue to do everything in my power to act
without them.'"
Tim Powers (writing in Expose Obama): "Just like a spoiled child who
doesn’t know the word “NO”, I believe that if Obama loses the upcoming
election, he and his communist regime will do everything in their lame-
duck power to destroy America to a point of no return for the incoming
President."
Jack Marshall (writing in Ethics Alarms): "Dishonest or tasteless?
Irresponsible or sensational? A lie or a crime? The nation’s two, sad,
archaic, useless, shameless, diminished news magazines, Time and
Newsweek, both reached new lows this week as both magazines
desperately brayed for readership with eye-catching covers... Neither
cover is responsible journalism. Both are graphic desperation, with
neither magazine showing respect for readers, their topics, or their own
distinguished pasts."
Former Senator Judd Gregg (in Vision to America): "The French have
now elected a socialist government... It has been a long time getting there,
but France now seems to be on the final leg of this journey of self-delusion
and self-destruction...They have dealt themselves a losing hand. We should
simply observe, note it and hopefully choose not to play the same cards."
And this week we found these informative "One Liners" . . .
Richard Vedder, Economics Prof, Ohio Univ: "A trillion dollars of student
loans: a crisis created by Washington?"
Nancy Pelosi (D, CA) on the Occupy movement: "God bless them for their
spontaneity. It’s young, it’s spontaneous, it’s focused and it’s going to be
effective," and said the movement “strengthened our democracy.”
Headline in One News Now on the NC vote: "Marriage wins, Obama sulks"
Franklin Graham: "President Obama has, in my view, shaken his fist at the
same God who created and defined marriage."
David Limbaugh, syndicated columnist: "Obama's record is as radical as
it gets...Shine the spotlight on Obama and his unacceptable extremism."
Robert Knight, Fellow, American Civil Rights Union: "President Obama has
come out of the closet, so to speak, in support of brideless or groomless
'marriage.' And he brought Jesus with him, citing Christ as his inspiration."
And here's one from Barack Obama, at his $15 million fundraiser in Hollywood:
"Obviously yesterday we made some news, but the truth is it was a logical
extension of what America is supposed to be.” [At least it's what he thinks
America is supposed to be -- and he's entitled to his opinion, but he shouldn't
try to force it on everyone else.]
And now, after this issue's major point, here are some "Afterthoughts:"
In case anyone is concerned: Geraldo Rivera is angry, or so news reports
claim. His problem: in an op-ed article for Fox News, he demands that his fellow
news reporters stop using the term "illegal aliens" for people who violated our
laws by sneaking into this country. He seems to prefer the term "undocumented
immigrants." The question has been raised: Would he refer to a car thief as an
"undocumented automobile possessor?" On this general theme, U.S. Supreme
Court Chief Justice Roberts commented on Arizona's new illegal immigration law,
currently under review by the Court: “It seems to me the federal government
just doesn’t want to know who’s here illegally.”
A sobering thought from Patriot Action Network: "If you think for one
second that we are being taken over by the Muslims or Islam, think again
because China poses a bigger threat then any other country and that is
because $0.57 of every dollar we earn is owed to China. Simple math tells
us that we cannot sustain our selves on this. So we are slowly going
bankrupt on these numbers and China will surely own us in the next 10
years if we don't make some changes in our Government."
And a sobering thought from Heritage Foundation on the European
crisis: "Last weekend, the people of France took a sharp turn to the left,
and the rest of Europe may be on the brink of rebuking its recent tack
toward fiscal responsibility. With Sunday's election of French Socialist
leader Francois Hollande, France has leapt backward toward the
policies that have helped sink the continent in a sovereign debt crisis... \
Endless spending has dire consequences, and if America is not careful,
it could follow Europe's path to economic ruin."
Week after week, we can always learn from America's Founding Fathers
"There are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the
people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by
violent and sudden usurpations." -- James Madison, 1788
"In a general sense, all contributions imposed by the government upon
individuals for the service of the state, are called taxes, by whatever
name they may be known, whether by the name of tribute, tythe, tallage,
impost, duty, gabel, custom, subsidy, aid, supply, excise, or other name."
-- Joseph Story, 1833
And from a 20th century president: "The fundamental basis of this nation's
laws was given to Moses on the Mount. The fundamental basis of our Bill
of Rights comes from the teachings of Isaiah and St Paul. I don't think
we emphasize that enough these days." -- Harry S. Truman, 1950
And as we so often say: "Another week . . . Another issue of ANC . . .
and as is so often the case, there are so many current events which merit our
commenting on them, but there is not time or space to deal with them all. But
ANC as always presents a pro-Christian, pro-American and pro-Conservative
viewpoint, and will continue to do so, just as long as it is possible to do so. It
is only as our readers feel inclined to help in this ministry of information by
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grateful for your help . . . together we can accomplish some good for America.
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