Vital Signs

Today's Posts

2012-01-27T13:19:00.001-06:00

Walk for Life Weekend

Are You Surprised? Meryl Streep Is No Margaret Thatcher.

Barack Obama Slashes Military, Significantly Weakens U.S.

Oh, Prunella, Did You See These Items?

Planned Parenthood: Bizarre, Immoral & Infuriating

It's the Walk for Life Weekend!

2012-01-27T12:24:00.002-06:00

It's a busy weekend coming up but an exciting one. And to be ready for it requires a lot of work today.

Claire had a doctor's appointment this morning and there was blogging to be done. But with these tasks completed, we now turn to the early part of the afternoon where Claire will be getting things ready for our participation at the Walk for Life down in Lincoln tomorrow morning. That means Claire getting together the material for a Vital Signs Ministries table AND baking cookies for the Nebraska Right to Life bake sale. Meanwhile, I'll be trying to get a few more chapters read in Jeff Shaara's WWII novel "The Final Storm" in order to be finished by our book club meeting Saturday night.

Then later this afternoon, we will head down to Brookstone Retirement Center to set things up for a 4 o'clock presentation of the January edition of "When Swing Was King."

Early tomorrow morning we will head down to Lincoln; pick up our niece Danni who wanted to come with us to the Walk for Life; go set up our literature table at the N.U. Student Union; and then walk up to the State Capitol building where the program gets underway promptly at 10 o'clock. There will be a few short speeches (almost always inspiring), a compelling ceremony where balloons representing the lives lost through abortion are released, and then the Walk for Life begins. Through the cordoned off streets of Lincoln (not very far really), we make our way back to the Student Union where the booths and bake sale tables are -- and where the incomparable Ryan Bomberger will address the gathering.

Come join us, won't you?

After the festivities end, we usually go out to dinner there in Lincoln with the people who come to the Walk from our Omaha church, Faith Bible Church. And, in recent years, that's been quite a gang. Sure, our church is a small one but when you get more than a third of the adult congregation to drive down to Lincoln for such an activity, then you know you've got quite a pro-life church!

I'm really honored to be part of such a team.

The rest of Saturday afternoon (not much is left after getting back to Omaha) will be spent in finishing the Shaara book and in preparing for Sunday's sermon on Galatians, Chapter 5. Then the Notting Hill Napoleons' book discussion Saturday night; church on Sunday morning; and a bit of relaxing "down time" after that.

That is, unless something else turns up!

Are You Surprised? Meryl Streep Is No Margaret Thatcher.

2012-01-27T11:52:00.001-06:00

Put quite simply, the new Meryl Streep movie purporting to tell the story of Margaret Thatcher fails miserably to do that.

But merely tilting the script and portrayal in favor of liberal politics and philosophy isn't what is proving disgusting to audiences. After all, The Iron Lady is a Hollywood production -- what else would one expect?

No; as bad as the distortion of history is in the film (and it's pretty bad), it is something else entirely that has deeply offended so many viewers, even liberals who hated Thatcher's policies. The gravest offense is the film's concentration on the anguishing dementia Mrs. Thatcher has been experiencing in her old age.

Some even suggest that it is a calculated cruelty.

Max Pemberton is just one of those who found the film tasteless and mean. Writing in the Telegraph, Pemberton emphasizes that he is far from being a fan of Mrs. Thatcher. Indeed, she represents to him "a pantomime-ish villain of my childhood." Nevertheless, he describes his sense of pain and powerlessness after viewing The Iron Lady.

The film ended and I sat motionless while the credits rolled. Slowly I got up and walked out into the cold January air, sickened by what I’d been party to, so acutely aware that the scenes presented as entertainment and edification – scenes I’d paid to see – were, at that very moment, possibly taking place in a grand house somewhere in central London. I had partaken of cruel, thoughtless voyeurism, the subject of which was powerless to protest at her exploitation...

My anger at the film has nothing to do with politics. I don’t object to the artistic licence exercised over certain events or the way Lady Thatcher’s political life is portrayed. My issue is with the portrayal of how she is now. And I suspect that those who have seen the film will feel the same.

While Meryl Streep’s performance is mesmerising, it is impossible not to be disturbed by her depiction of Lady Thatcher’s decline into dementia. Columnists and commentators such as Charles Moore, Norman Tebbit and Douglas Hurd have opined in this newspaper and elsewhere about this distasteful approach. And David Cameron has similarly questioned the morality of making the film while she is still alive. I did not expect to agree with them. But now I am even more vehement in my condemnation, because, as a doctor, I have direct experience of the reality of dementia for the sufferer and their family...

But to show someone in the throes of an illness while they are actually experiencing it and in terminal decline is chillingly insensitive. Can you imagine an unauthorised film being made about the life of a public figure who was dying of cancer, for example – Christopher Hitchens, say – before his death? Can you imagine watching scenes that his family opposed – showing him writhing in agony, weak and vulnerable? Of course not. There would be a furious outcry. It would rightly be considered a terrible violation of that person’s privacy, and in appalling poor taste...

Watch this film without knowledge of the background and you’d assume Margaret Thatcher had already died. This is what angered me most about The Iron Lady. It is representative of how society largely views elderly people, particularly those with dementia. They are ignored. They are considered to be dead long before they actually are. Those with dementia experience a loss, not just of their memory and cognition, but of respect and dignity.

Sociologists talk of “social death” and “biological death”. Ideally, the two coincide, but in dementia, there is discordance. As people with dementia decline, they are no longer deemed worthy of attention or thought. As far as society is concerned, they are already history. This film gets away with treating Lady Thatcher as though she were already dead, because that’s precisely how society behaves towards the old and infirm. This is lamentable, vile and shameful – and it should anger every one of us.

So save your money. Don't let Hollywood distort your understanding (or even your image) of one of the genuine political heroes of our time. And don't encourage the cruel attitudes towards the elderly and infirm which Pemberton has described above. Make a deliberate decision to stay away from The Iron Lady and encourage your friends to do likewise.

Instead, I suggest that you watch this quick video and then sort through the many terrific offerings for further investigation of Mrs. Thatcher's real life and legacy here at The Margaret Thatcher Foundation.

Barack Obama Slashes Military, Significantly Weakens U.S.

2012-01-27T11:05:00.000-06:00

The future is not bright for the U.S. military. Yesterday, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta gave America a glimpse of the half-trillion dollars in defense spending cuts requested by the Obama Administration and detailed how the U.S. military’s capabilities would be affected in practical terms. The result is a slashed and burned military that woefully lacks the forces it needs to meet America’s security challenges on a global scale.

Mike Brownfield, writing for The Morning Bell over at Heritage Foundation has a lot more to say.

On the ground, in the sea, and in the air, American forces will shrink drastically — the Army will shrink by 72,000 people, the active Marine Corps will be reduced by 20,000, the Air Force will see six tactical fighter squadrons de-established while an additional training fighter squadron will be eliminated, the next-generation F-35 Join Strike Fighter procurement will be slowed, and the Navy will retire seven cruisers and two amphibious ships at an early juncture while delaying the procurements of new ships. To put these cuts in context, we are returning to ground forces levels we had under President Bill Clinton when the Army strained and scrambled to execute smaller missions like Kosovo and Bosnia–let alone significant ground force operations.

In order to compensate for the drastically reduced military capabilities, the Administration plans to increase reliance on unmanned drones and special-operations teams based around the globe. But special operations are a scalpel, not a Swiss army knife. They are not an “easy-button” substitute for the many security missions the United States undertakes worldwide. And they rely on a strong backbone of conventional forces in order to succeed...

Read on...and I guarentee you will pledge yourself to work towards electing a new Commander in Chief in November.

Oh, Prunella, Did You See These Items?

2012-01-27T10:57:00.000-06:00

* Ah, another moment of high pride for the NEA and the government schools it runs. A middle school teacher is caught napping in class by a kid quick enough to whip out his cell phone and capture the slipshod sleeper on film. The result? The 9th grade kid is suspended.

* "Only a president long shielded from criticism and accountability could make the kind of State of the Union speech President Obama did Tuesday night. It's hard to know where to begin, given his repetition of tired ideas from his previous SOTUs, his taking credit for successful policies he resisted and omitting failed ones he promoted, his numerous misrepresentations on issues big and small, and his glaring refusal to address the main issues that threaten the nation." (David Limbaugh, "Obama's Misstatements on the Union.")

* From an Associated Press report -- An increased scrutiny of Illinois abortion clinics in the wake of revelations about a "house of horrors" in Philadelphia revealed that some facilities had gone up to 15 years without inspections, and two now have closed after regulators found health and safety violations...

One of those facilities — the Women's Aid Clinic in Lincolnwood — closed when the owner decided to surrender its license rather than pay a $36,000 fine or endure an expensive legal fight with the state. The fine was for violations including the clinic's failure to perform CPR on a patient who died after a procedure. Its owner told the AP her clinic was safe and she felt victimized by the surprise inspection after 15 years.

* "While the president spoke about the economic frustrations of average Americans in his State of the Union address Tuesday night, his wife, Michelle Obama appeared at the event in a sapphire blue dress from designer Barbara Tfank’s 2012 Resort collection, estimated to cost over $2,000."

* "The amount of money the federal government hands out in direct payments to individuals steadily increased over the past four decades, but shot up under Obama, climbing by almost $600 billion — a 32% increase — in his first three years. And Obama's last budget called for these payments to climb another $500 billion by 2016, at which point they would account for fully two-thirds of all federal spending." (John Merline, "Is President Obama Creating A Nation Of Dependents?"-- Investor's Business Daily)

* "How embarrassing this must be for President Obama, whose major speech theme so far this campaign season has been that every single American, no matter how rich, should pay their "fair share" of taxes...A new report just out from the Internal Revenue Service reveals that 36 of President Obama's executive office staff owe the country $833,970 in back taxes. These people working for Mr. Fair Share apparently haven't paid any share, let alone their fair share."

Planned Parenthood: Bizarre, Immoral & Infuriating

2012-01-27T10:07:00.001-06:00

Just to make sure you remain rightly incensed about Planned Parenthood, I wanted to repeat a few items about the mega-abortion corporation that have shown up in previous Vital Signs posts. I begin with the 8 major reasons that I oppose Planned Parenthood but I then post a few links to VS posts that deal with some of the most maddening of Planned Parenthood's recent shenanigans.

1) Planned Parenthood kills preborn babies for profit. Hundreds of thousands of babies. And by payments to surgical abortionists and sales of chemical abortifacients, Planned Parenthood is raking in millions of dollars every year. They are the largest abortion providing, abortion promoting business in the world.

2) Planned Parenthood is the most aggressive promoter of abortion rights in the U.S. and abroad. It's influence in Congress, the United Nations, in state governments, in social service agencies, and among government educators is huge.

3) Planned Parenthood promotes (and enables) sexual promiscuity, even among very young teenagers.

4) Planned Parenthood promotes sexual perversion and does so with obscene and blasphemous materials.

5) Planned Parenthood holds firm to the racism and elitism of its eugenics founders.

6) Planned Parenthood has been caught on many occasions in criminal cover-ups of statutory rape.

7) Planned Parenthood operates many unsafe, unsanitary abortion clinics. It has had several abortionists who have killed adult women through botched abortion. It dispenses very dangerous abortifacient drugs in an unprofessional manner like over the phone and through "at home abortion kits." It works continually against parental rights and control. It works continually against any and all limitations on abortion.

And, oh yeah...Number 8) Planned Parenthood makes about $100,000,000 every year from American taxpayers.

And now on to those links I mentioned:

91% of Pregnant Women Going to Planned Parenthood Get Abortions

Planned Parenthood Throws Christmas Party for Democrats -- At the Abortion Clinic

Purposeful De-Construction: Planned Parenthood's Jaffe Memo

A Wow Washington Times Editorial: "Planned Parenthood Targets Blacks"

Top 12 Reasons to Defund Planned Parenthood Now (from Live Action)

Planned Parenthood's Mammogram Mantra Is Another Lie

Planned Parenthood: Where Are the Missing Millions of Our Tax Dollars?

Remember Planned Parenthood's Violent Superhero?

Planned Parenthood Fights for Funding...With a Sex Party?

Planned Parenthood Tries To Spin Its Way Out Of Scandal

Planned Parenthood Insists: You Must Do Abortions!

Judge's Ruling: Planned Parenthood Guilty of Illegal Abortion on a 14-Yr Old

Today's Posts

2012-01-26T11:13:00.001-06:00

It's Always a Good Day to Thank a Vet

Sending Valentines

The State of the Union: Fact Checked by the Cato Institute

Why Compassion Must Be Insightful, Responsible

The March for Life: Two Very Different Views

A Riddle With a Lesson -- Fascinating

Getting Away With Murder

It's Always a Good Day to Thank a Vet

2012-01-26T11:00:00.000-06:00

Sending Valentines

2012-01-26T10:45:00.003-06:00

We're sending out the Valentine's Day cards that Claire made last night for the Heart for the Disabled program sponsored by Joni & Friends that I mentioned yesterday. Inside we're sending along this message:

"The will of God is never exactly what you expect it to be. It may seem to be much worse, but in the end it's going to be a lot better and a lot bigger." (Elisabeth Elliot)

We send along Valentine's Day greetings and, more important, our sincere prayers that the Lord Jesus Christ will strengthen you in the inner person, give you deep faith in His comprehensive love, and increase your joyful hope in the glorious inheritance that He will one day share with the saints.

There's still time for you and your family to be involved too. So grab the scissors and paste -- or go for the fancy templates available on your computer! -- and make some Valentines for people whose lives will be enriched because of your efforts.

The State of the Union: Fact Checked by the Cato Institute

2012-01-26T10:31:00.000-06:00

Why Compassion Must Be Insightful, Responsible

2012-01-26T10:24:00.000-06:00

Gina Dalfonzo over at BreakPoint links to a heartbreaking story of how gullible Christians in the U.S. are supporting crooks when they think they are supporting orphans in Haiti. Having seen many similar frauds in my travels to Belarus, India, Nigeria and other places (including, yes, right here in the USA), I appreciate the principles that motivate Megan Boudreaux's impassioned call for responsible compassion.

In Haiti, orphanages = business, children = money.

The template here for businesses -- I mean orphanages -- are the same. ”Pastor” makes a quick round in a poor neighborhood in Haiti, advertises for a place for some children to live, grabs some children. BOOM, you’ve got yourself a business.

Then the second step is to reach out…to churches, organizations etc…you explain how many starving children you have at your orphanage, how they have been abandoned, orphaned, and you explain how you need help. Then an [American] church comes to the sweeping rescue…hurries up, raises some money, collects donations…next thing you know they are on a plane to said orphanage ready to “SAVE” them. They show up, look at all the poor, sick, orphaned children…hand out their clothes and food…and 5 days later they are back to their home country thinking about how much they have helped.

PLEASE see my heart in this and keep reading, I am not BASHING groups that support orphanages, I am not BASHING people who take their time and money to invest in children’s lives. What I AM BASHING is people who think the solution is throwing some money quickly at an orphanage along with a few new pairs of underwear and shoes…and then leaving not knowing what the outcome will be for these children.

Here’s what happens…your group leaves. Someone like me (who lives in Haiti) heads to said orphanage…discovers…clothes gone, shoes gone, 15 days of Food is already out after only 2 days. Children have changed back into ragged clothes and are lethargic again because they’re starving.

Round 2: next church group comes in, not knowing about first church group…again, comes into the orphanage…does the same thing (handing out food, clothes, medicine- “saving” these children)…and the same thing happens (it’s all gone within a week of church/team leaving)...

Son of God orphanage was the ABSOLUTE worst, having at least 14 groups, organizations, churches supporting them over the 11 months that I was fighting for them to be closed. I PRAY I never find a place that bad again…but sadly since that time that Son of God has closed, I have received TONS of emails, messages and phone calls regarding terrible orphanages in Haiti. (If you work in Haiti and know of any PLEASE message me). There is a list here in Haiti with more than 50 orphanages that have this “Business” so terribly perfected that these children are sold, hurting, missing and dying. There are HUNDREDS of other orphanages that are hanging on, still covering their tracks, confusing people…and just WAITING for someone to yell about them...

I know that for some, this blog might be too much information, too many details, too uninteresting…but the truth of it is, in Haiti, and in MANY countries…children=money. And this equation is not only resulting in Restaveks and child trafficking but it is messing with children’s health, minds and childhoods, And it is KILLING children.

Every time I think about people using children to milk organizations, churches or individuals for everything they can…I am infuriated. It lights a fire in me that turns me into a mix between a bulldozer, a blow horn and an uninhibited boxer.

I have SEEN children die because of this type of “support”…I have seen children lose their childhood, their will to live, their belief in good or hope or Christ because of the way these orphanages are run.

Does this mean that NO ONE should support orphanages? No, not by any means…but what it means is TAKE the time, the understanding, the TRANSLATING (use people who you trust and REALLY know Haitian Creole) , to know for SURE where your money is going and if it is REALLY getting to these children.

Be part of the SOLUTION, NOT the Problem. If you, your church, or an organization you know supports an orphanage in Haiti that you think is troubled, please email megan@respirehaiti.org … as Respire Haiti partners with a few other organizations here in Haiti to begin BREAKING the cycle of organizations double, triple or even quadruple funding the same orphanage. We are not saying these places should each have ONE organization and only one, we are saying that when we work as the BODY OF CHRIST, we are better able to holistically meet each child’s and orphanages need. By identifying who is working in each orphanage we can encourage teamwork, accountability and not duplicate efforts!

The March for Life: Two Very Different Views

2012-01-26T10:03:00.003-06:00

As Jill Stanek says, "This must be seen to be believed." Jill then links to an internet slide show created by CBS' Washington, D.C.station. It's title is “Activists Hold Annual March For Life On Roe v. Wade Anniversary.”

But of the 7 photos in the slide show, all of them center on the infinitesimally small band of pro-abortion demonstrators. That's right. All of the photos star the pro-aborts! There are no pro-life marchers in the whole thing!

We are, of course, well versed in media bias -- as in their completely ignoring year after year after year the largest public rally in America.

But this is a laughable new low indeed.

Therefore, as always, if you want to see an accurate representation of the national March for Life, you've got to go to the activists themselves. So, for a more accurate idea of how the March went this year, check out this nifty video clip from last year's event. It's a time lapse video clip taken by the Franciscans that shows just a portion of the March. It is 90 minutes condensed into one.

A Riddle With a Lesson -- Fascinating

2012-01-26T09:34:00.000-06:00

Interested in history? Science? Education? Cultural indoctrination? You will find this fascinating.

Getting Away With Murder

2012-01-26T09:28:00.002-06:00

The American "justice system" is cruelly (yet accurately) mocked by a murderer in North Carolina. He is a vicious thug who, rather than is paying for his crimes, is enjoying a life of comparative luxury at the government's expense.

In a letter to a local newspaper, the robber/murderer boasted that, even though he is on death row, he will very likely never have to face the executioner. Instead he sneeringly asks, "Is the public aware that I am a gentleman of leisure, watching color TV in the A.C., reading, taking naps at will, eating three well balanced hot meals a day. I'm housed in a building that connects to the new 55 million dollar hospital with round the clock free medical care 24/7."

And, of course, this is just one case. The sad reality is that there are hundreds of thousands of other prisoners in the United States who are enjoying the same irony as they live a richer life after committing their crimes than before. No work, no deprivation, no restitution and no substantial incentive for criminals to avoid coming back to prison when they are released.

Sigh. This, ladies and gentlemen, is what's called getting away with murder.

Today's Posts

2012-01-25T11:23:00.001-06:00

Keeping Busy

Have a "Heart for the Disabled" -- Write a Valentine

Mitt Romney Gives How Much to Mormonism?

Do Bible Stories Teach Theology?

The Real State of the Union

Keeping Busy

2012-01-25T10:52:00.000-06:00

I sure wish that being busy insured being effective. But alas, I often wonder about it.

Anyhow, having just finished Bob Greene's deeply moving book, Once Upon a Town: The Miracle of the North Platte Canteen, I have to dive headlong into Jeff Shaara's 480-page The Final Storm: A Novel of the War in the Pacific in order to get it done before the Notting Hill Napoleons (our literary club of nearly 20 years) meet on Saturday night.

And given the to-do list I have in front of me the rest of the week, I can see it's going to be tight. I hope to write up reviews for The Book Den of both of North Platte Canteen and Final Storm but before that I have a lot to get done this week:

* a bunch of correspondence (including letters to pastors offering Vital Signs' help in developing letter-writing outreaches for their congregations AND a few Valentine letters for the Joni & Friends project, Heart for the Disabled);

* presenting two more "When Swing Was King" programs -- Northcrest nursing home in Council Bluffs (Jan. 26th, 2 PM) and Brookstone Retirement Center (Jan. 27th at 4 PM);

* reconstructing and re-recording several of the first several WSWK programs;

* doing the regular blogging;

* preparing Sunday's sermon (we're moving into Galatians, Chapter 5);

* getting ready for our informational booth at Saturday morning's Walk for Life down in Lincoln (We will see you there, won't we?);

* and then getting that Shaara book done.

I think I'd best get going!

Have a "Heart for the Disabled" -- Write a Valentine

2012-01-25T10:48:00.002-06:00

From Joni Eareckson-Tada's website...

As some of you may know, we recently aired five "Joni and Friends" radio programs highlighting the stories of special needs families for our Heart for the Disabled week (if you’d like to hear the programs, visit our radio page and key in Heart for the Disabled). Cards and letters, notes, assurances of prayer, scriptures, and copies of poems and hymns from listeners are pouring into the IDC...

And if you haven’t written yet, now’s your time!

Just visit our radio page and key in Heart for the Disabled to hear the families’ stories. Then pick up a pen, grab a card, dig out some Valentine hearts and glue and, well… be creative! (You’ve got a week or so before we pack up all the notes and overnight them to these families). After you’ve finished your note, mail it into Joni and Friends, PO Box 3333, Agoura Hills, CA 91376.

These disabled people and their family members are thirsty for encouragement and we need your help to make certain their mailboxes are stuffed with words of blessing! So thank you for investing a few minutes in this special outreach… and bless you for having a Heart for the Disabled!

Mitt Romney Gives How Much to Mormonism?

2012-01-25T09:48:00.000-06:00

With those Mitt Romney tax returns finally made public, we learn that he and his wife donated a total of $8.73 million to the Mormon religion -- over just the last two years.

Wow.

With that money representing just a tenth of Romney's acquired wealth over those two years, it will serve as a most unwelcome contrast to the "I'm just one of the guys" perception that politicians love to project.

Needless to say, this is why Romney kept those tax returns under cover, producing them only after Newt Gingrich had made the issue an important part of his Republican nomination campaign.

Furthermore, one would rightly figure that this revelation is going to make those evangelicals and Catholics who have been supporting Mitt Romney a bit queasy since it proves that his commitment to Mormonism is much more serious than what they probably wanted to believe. For all that cash, of course, goes to further the mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -- all those temples, all those copies of the Book of Mormon, all of those front door proselytizing efforts occurring throughout the world, all those baptisms for the dead, and all those classes that seek to convert nominal Christians by distorting the Bible and substituting a bizarre and distinctly non-Christian religious system.

No, this isn't something that will help Mitt Romney's chances to secure the support of evangelicals, Roman Catholics, or any one else who understands the truly weird teaching of Mormonism.

One might have thought that Romney, realizing the political baggage that tithing such huge amounts to the Mormon "Church" would represent, would have simply deferred from the practice. But then, Mitt Romney's tithes are something he believes indispensable to gaining him an afterlife paradise, one in which he will become a celestial god on some other planet with religious followers of his own.

Crazy stuff? Well, it's not Christianity -- nothing at all like Christianity.

And that's why these tax returns are causing a crisis of conscience this morning for many of those Christians who had previously supported Mitt Romney -- and thus a crisis of confidence at Romney headquarters.

Do Bible Stories Teach Theology?

2012-01-25T09:47:00.001-06:00

At a recent gathering of seminary students who were engaged in ministry internships, one of the students began talking about her work as a children's minister. She was enjoying the experience, and the children all seemed to be enjoying their time with her on Sundays, but she expressed her concern that the curriculum she was using was not theological enough. "I don't want them just to hear Bible stories all the time," she said. "I want them to learn theology."

At first, it seems like a fair statement. I certainly commend her desire to provide solid teaching, and the church is definitely in need of a more rigorous education for its members. Everyone from the History Channel to Peter Singer to the local Mormon missionary is attacking Christian faith and doctrine. If the church is to withstand these attacks, then we certainly need to be educating our children about what we believe and why we believe it.

I find it troubling, however, that evangelical ministers who claim the authority and inspiration of Scripture would reject the notion that children's Bible stories can provide this education.

I realize that VeggieTales' Dave and the Giant Pickle may not be quite on par with the writings of Carl Henry, but does that mean that the story of David and Goliath is substandard as well? The vast majority of the Old Testament is narrative; in the New Testament, the four Gospels and Acts are also in story rather than propositional form. Jesus Himself primarily taught through telling stories! Biblical narrative is much more than mere entertainment, biography, or history. While they may not always conclude with an explicit moral (as do Aesop's fables), they are deeply theological...

Read the rest of Rebecca Poe Hays's very interesting column over at BreakPoint. Good stuff.

The Real State of the Union

2012-01-25T09:35:00.000-06:00

Miss President Obama's State of the Union speech?

Never mind; Rich Lowry has a quick summation for you over at Fox News, excerpts of which I print immediately below. And after those remarks, I've put a link to an exceptionally good Republican response from Mitch Daniels -- oh, why won't he throw his hat into the ring?

Don't worry, America. There's nothing that ails this country that can't be made right by a catalogue of piddling proposals that will be forgotten tomorrow--and oh yeah, more taxes on the rich. Such was the message of President Obama's State of the Union address.

It made Bill Clinton's notoriously endless lists of poll-tested banalities look like artistry by comparison. It was light and forgettable, so insubstantial it could have floated off the teleprompter. It was spend more here, create a new program there, carve out a new subsidy in the tax code over there--and repeat as necessary, for over an hour.

The president steered clear of some of the nation's gravest domestic questions. You would never know we are accumulating debt at a $1.3 trillion annual clip. You would never know that health care costs are soaring and a vast political and constitutional fight is ongoing over his health care law (mentioned once, only very briefly, in passing). You would never know that Medicare and Social Security will soon be groaning under the coming wave of baby boomer retirements. You would never know the tax code is a hideously complex, economically inefficient monstrosity.

All of that was left aside, so the president could strike an uplifting, inoffensive tone proposing a raft of superficially unobjectionable new government actions. It was one thing for Bill Clinton to take this tack in the late 90s when the economy was roaring. It was evasive and irresponsible for President Obama to do it now in our current straits...

Here's Rich Lowry's article. And over here is Mitch Daniels'.

Today's Posts

2012-01-24T08:04:00.001-06:00

Pro-Life Activists, Listen Up!

How About the Moral State of the Union?

15 Questions the Media Should (But Won't) Ask Barack Obama

Team Obama's Prosecution of Pro-Life Activist Fails the Stink Test

Church Life: "The Kid's Table" vs Inter-generational Unity

Pro-Life Activists, Listen Up!

2012-01-24T08:00:00.000-06:00

In additional reference to the Sanctity of Life Sunday two days ago and the March for Life in Washington, D.C. yesterday, I have a few items I think you'll find of value.

* First of all, for those of you who live in Nebraska, please make note of the Walk for Life coming up this next Saturday morning in Lincoln. The speaker this year is an especially exciting one, Ryan Bomberger. You just gotta' make the Walk this year! Here's more. And here too.

* "Roe v. Wade at 39" by Michael J. New.

* Barb Malek's fine essay, “Women Are Watching”- A Pro-Life Twist on Planned Parenthood’s New Campaign!

* It wasn't just in Washington, D.C. that pro-lifers were marching. Check out Jeanne Smits' story from LifeSiteNews, "Record Turnout for Paris March for Life."

* "Gendercide: The War Feminists Seemingly Refuse to Fight" by Ericka Andersen at the Heritage Foundation.

How About the Moral State of the Union?

2012-01-24T07:19:00.000-06:00

15 Questions the Media Should (But Won't) Ask Barack Obama

2012-01-24T07:05:00.000-06:00

* How do you decide which foreign leaders to submissively bow towards and why do you think that's appropriate for an American President?

* Through dubious means, you and your allies in Congress managed to push through an incredibly unpopular health care bill that helped lead to the worst election night for the Democratic Party in 50 years. Since the bill has passed, many of your claims about the bill have proven to be untrue. For example, we now know the bill won't lower costs and despite your assurances to the contrary, big companies like McDonald's say they may drop health care because of the health care reform. Since the American people have rejected your health care reform and it doesn't do what you said it would, shouldn't you work with the Republicans to repeal it?

* Your stimulus bill cost more in real dollars than the moon landing and the interstate highway system combined. What do we have to show for all of that money spent?

* When you took office, gas was $1.79 per gallon. Since then, you've demonized the oil industry, dramatically slowed offshore drilling, blocked ANWR, and killed the Keystone Pipeline. Now, gas is $3.34 per gallon. How much higher do you anticipate driving gas prices?

These are just four of the questions in John Hawkin's terrific Town Hall column, "15 Questions The Mainstream Media Would Ask Barack Obama If He Were A Republican." Go read the others -- every one of which is a absolute doozy -- right here.

Team Obama's Prosecution of Pro-Life Activist Fails the Stink Test

2012-01-24T06:55:00.001-06:00

Ralph Aldrich recently received a letter from Mathew Staver (that's right, just one "T" in Mathew) who is Chairman of the religious rights organization, Liberty Counsel Action. The letter concerned the Obama administration's heartless (and thoroughly unjust and unconstitutional) prosecution of pro-life activist Mary Sue Pine -- a prosecution which was denied quite forcefully by a federal judge.

Here's part of that letter below as well as the link to the LC's online petition to Barack Obama asking for the speedy termination of Eric Holder's job as head of the Justice Department.

Thankfully, a federal judge has ended Attorney General Eric Holder’s two-year political persecution of Florida pro-life educator Mary Susan Pine!

Holder and the DOJ had sought to levy thousands of dollars in fines against Pine as well as get a permanent injunction banning her from continuing her faithful 20-year ministry outside an abortion clinic in West Palm Beach, Florida.

But this scheme was thrown out of court and drew criticism from Judge Kenneth L. Ryskamp, who concluded that the government lacked evidence to prove not just one, but “all three elements of its FACE (Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act) claim.”

Judge Ryskamp concluded that “the evidence could not lead a rational jury to find that Ms. Pine’s conduct [i.e., having peaceful conversations with clinic visitors on a public sidewalk] constituted a physical obstruction within the meaning of FACE.”

The Judge chastised Holder for seeking to apply federal law in a clearly unconstitutional manner:..

The government’s decision to prosecute Pine despite having no evidence of wrongdoing prompted Judge Ryskamp to suspect a conspiracy at the highest level of the Obama Administration: "The Court is at a loss as to why the government chose to prosecute this case in the first place. The Court can only wonder if this action was the result of a concerted effort between the Government and the [abortion clinic], which began well before the date of the incident at issue, to quell Ms. Pine’s activities…"

When Eric Holder should be prosecuting terrorists, he is wasting time manufacturing baseless lawsuits against law-abiding, pro-life Americans and engaging in other politically-inspired campaigns against pro-liberty, pro-family citizens! Such actions by the Attorney General are abuses of power and examples of intolerably misplaced priorities!

Here is the petition.

Church Life: "The Kid's Table" vs Intergenerational Unity

2012-01-24T06:40:00.001-06:00

A Tale of Two Tables from Fuller Youth Institute on Vimeo.

Today's Posts

2012-01-23T11:44:00.002-06:00

Obama's America: Where A Young Girl's Dreams Require Abortion

Aslan Is On The Move

5th Circuit Court Gives Today's Right to Life Marchers Fresh Hope

Everyone's at Fault for Our Terrible State of the Union...Except Obama

There's a New Mood of Celebration in the School Choice Movement

Obama's Immense Re-Election Money

Even the Liberals Are Fed Up With Obama's Conceit

Obama's America: Where A Young Girl's Dreams Require Abortion

2012-01-23T11:32:00.000-06:00

So this is what America has come to? This is what generations of patriots worked for, prayed for, and fought for? That it is deemed necessary for young girls to abort their babies in order to fulfill their dreams?

Tragically, this is Barack Obama's America. For that's exactly what he said yesterday in his remarks praising Roe v Wade.

But, if this is not your vision of America, please dedicate yourself anew to pray hard and work hard to get this guy out of the White House -- before he is able to place yet more abortion extremists on the Supreme Court and thus insure that this nightmare will last for decades to come.

Aslan Is On The Move

2012-01-23T11:24:00.001-06:00

A dear friend and pro-life colleague from Birmingham, England who I have quoted before here on Vital Signs Blog sent over an e-mail yesterday. And among the items Dr. Greg Gardner shared in that note are those I print below. They lifted my heart and I hope they do the same for you.

A British guy who has lived in Atlanta for the past 13 years, working for Operation Mobilisation was talking about the Middle East. He told us about the prayer meeting in Cairo attended by 71,000 people not long ago. Undoubtedly the largest gathering of Christians ever in the history of that country.

In Saudi Arabia, thousands of Filipino women are working as maids in Saudi homes and there are a lot of drivers from India, some of them Christians. The authorities recently gave permission for a prayer event for non Saudi people to attend. The main meeting was attended by about 3000 people and there were 2000 or so in the overflow hall.

Aslan is on the move.

Indeed, He is, Greg. And thanks so much for alerting us to a couple of the ways He is doing so.

5th Circuit Court Gives Today's Right to Life Marchers Fresh Hope

2012-01-23T11:07:00.000-06:00

The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in Texas gave good reason for celebration for the hundreds of thousands who will arrive in Washington on Monday for the 39th annual March for Life.

The Court upheld last week the constitutionality of a new law in Texas requiring that abortion providers provide ultrasound exams and that women listen to the physician’s description of her unborn child and to the heartbeat before deciding to abort.

The law, signed by Gov. Rick Perry in May, was blocked by a federal district court in August which argued that the law impinged on free speech rights of abortion providers.

Now Texas may become not just the nation’s largest creator of jobs, but the nation’s best protector of human life...

Read the rest of Star Parker's Town Hall column right here.

Everyone's at Fault for Our Terrible State of the Union...Except Obama

2012-01-23T10:58:00.002-06:00

Now, President Truman made it very clear: The buck stops with him. No passing the buck for that guy. But Mr. Obama blames everyone but himself. Mr. Bush, he says, left the nation in a ditch, a deep ditch, and he’s been digging out since he took office. And Congress? Those guys are just plain awful, he says. So mean. Wah, they won’t do anything I want done! Mr. Obama feels so sure about it that he’s basing his re-election campaign on bashing Capitol Hill.

But with the president delivering his State of the Union speech to Congress Tuesday night, let’s pause here to take as hard look at the real state of America, by the numbers, using only cold, hard facts...

And, oh what damning facts!

Go on. Follow this link to today's "Must Read" article, "The Truly Dismal State of the Union" by Joseph Curl at the Washington Times.

There's a New Mood of Celebration in the School Choice Movement

2012-01-23T10:49:00.000-06:00

"I strongly support National School Choice Week because all children in America should be able to access the best schools possible. We have a moral and societal obligation to give our children the opportunity to succeed in school, at work, and in life. We cannot meet that obligation unless parents are empowered to select the best schools of their children. I encourage everyone who wants to see a transformation of American education to get involved in National School Choice Week."

The above comments come from comic legend Bill Cosby but there's a whole lot more who are enthusiastically supporting National School Choice Week by attending a giant kickoff event in New Orleans.

There was an air of celebration at the event as participants recognized that 2011 was a banner year for the school choice movement. And the thanks for that goes, not exclusively but primarily, to conservatives. As Mike Brownfield, writing in the Heritage Foundation, points out:

The groundswell of support comes after a year of significant strides in the school choice movement. A total of 12 states and the District of Columbia either enacted or expanded school choice options in 2011. Heritage education expert Lindsey Burke explains that last year, “more families than ever before gained access to school choice options, freeing them from assignment-by-zip code policies that often relegate families to the public school closest to their home, regardless of whether it meet their child’s needs.” As a result, more families have access to school choice options — including vouchers, tax credits, homeschooling, online learning, and even education savings accounts.

That expansion of school choice came after what appeared to be ominous news for some of America’s schoolchildren in 2009 and 2010. In Washington, D.C., home to some of the country’s most dangerous and under-performing schools, families of low-income children received vouchers through the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, giving them a chance to choose a brighter educational future. That light of hope, though, was about to be extinguished when Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) inserted a provision in a 2009 spending bill that would have ended the program. That changed, though, when the Tea Party revolution came to Congress, bringing with it a new movement toward school choice...

Obama's Immense Re-Election Money

2012-01-23T10:01:00.001-06:00

I just came across this Mother Jones item from the first of December, an article which observed that Barack Obama had been far more aggressive in doing fundraising events than his predecessors. In fact, by the first of December, Obama had done 69 fundraisers for the year. That's more than one every 5 days!

And the public wonders what the President does between basketball games, White House parties, vacations and rounds of golf.

Barack Obama had a choice. He could work with the Congress to try and run the country with efficiency and principle. Or he could play games, ignore the people, criticize the Congress and be serious only about running for re-election. Shamefully, he opted for the latter course.

But he's amassed quite a treasure chest to get it done.

Obama's fundraising has more than paid off. The president has raised nearly $90 million so far—but with a significant 46 percent of it from small donors—for his reelection effort, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. The next highest fundraiser in the 2012 presidential field is Republican Mitt Romney, who has raked in $32.2 million.

Obama's pace exceeds his own fundraising in the early stages of his first presidential run, in 2007. Through September 30, 2007, Obama had raised $80 million; this time around, that figure was $88 million through September 30. As the president, he does have the full backing and fundraising muscle of the Democratic National Committee, which is scouring the country for every dollar and every volunteer it can find to power Obama through what's shaping up to be one of the most bruising, cash-drenched campaigns in history.

If you're a Republican, you can start worrying. For not only does Barack Obama have the bully pulpit of the presidency and the fawning favor of the media, he's got an awfully big amount of cash.

Even the Liberals Are Fed Up With Obama's Conceit

2012-01-23T09:27:00.003-06:00

I'm sure the White House team had a real "ouch moment" Saturday morning when reading their favorite newspaper, the New New York Times. For within its pages was a stinging rebuke of Barack Obama's inefficient, condescending, disappointing presidency -- and from a usually reliable source too.

Sure, the Maureen Dowd column tried to throw some dirt on George W. Bush, Newt Gingrich and others, but she went on to blast the Big O (and his wife) pretty hard.

Despite what his rivals say, the president and the first lady do believe in American exceptionalism — their own, and they feel assaulted and underappreciated.

We disappointed them.

As Michelle said to Oprah in an interview she did with the president last May: “I always told the voters, the question isn’t whether Barack Obama is ready to be president. The question is whether we’re ready. And that continues to be the question we have to ask ourselves."

They still believed, as their friend Valerie Jarrett once said, that Obama was “just too talented to do what ordinary people do.”...

Kantor writes that the Obamas, feeling misunderstood, burrowed into “self-imposed exile” — a “bubble within the bubble” — with their small circle of Chicago friends, who reinforced the idea that “the American public just did not appreciate their exceptional leader.”

She reports that Marty Nesbitt indignantly told his fellow Obama pal Eric Whitaker that the president “could get 70 or 80 percent of the vote anywhere but the U.S.”

The Obamas, especially Michelle, have radiated the sense that Americans do not appreciate what they sacrifice by living in a gilded cage...

Charles C. W. Cooke over at NRO weighs in on the column and presents some good stuff of his own.

But even for those of us who never bought Obama’s shtick, and who do not believe in either the Coming of the Age of Aquarius or that any president could “turn out to be a Messiah,” there has been much about this administration that has surprised.

I did not expect him to be an “introvert,” either. Nor did I expect the man to be such a terrible politician. Instead, I presumed that Obama would be an intelligent technocrat with a well-oiled and competent White House, and that he would be able to use his oratorical ability to his advantage. I fully expected that I would oppose what he would try and achieve — and I do — but I didn’t expect to be embarrassed watching him attempt it. As it happens, the Obama White House is a mess, the president largely shies away from detail — leaving it to the very Congress he blames for his ills — and his speeches tend to hurt any policy he is trying to advance. And he seems incapable of considering his own role in all of this...

Today's Posts

2012-01-20T12:14:00.001-06:00

A Christmas Wrap

The Christian Case for the Sanctity of Life -- Great Film Clip!

And Another Great Pro-Life Clip!

Saudi Arabia's Religious Police Decried for Brutality

Barack Obama Is the Anti-Patriot

A Christmas Wrap

2012-01-20T12:05:00.001-06:00

The January LifeSharer letter from Vital Signs Ministries is up and inside is an adventurous review of our varied Christmas activities. From the Christmas Eve breakfast (19 guests) to Christmas Day One dinner (18 guests) to the carols sung outside the abortion clinic to the 17 presentations of the Christmas version of "When Swing Was King" to a whole lot more, it's pleasantly wrapped up for you.

And there's a few items too about things coming up in the near future like the Walk for Life in Lincoln on January 28th and the discussion of Nancy Pearcey's Saving Leonardo on February 7th.

Check it out right here.

The Christian Case for the Sanctity of Life -- Great Film Clip!

2012-01-20T11:37:00.000-06:00

And Another Great Pro-Life Clip!

2012-01-20T11:35:00.000-06:00

Saudi Arabia's Religious Police Decried for Brutality

2012-01-20T11:32:00.000-06:00

The Authority for the Promotion of Virtue? That's the Orwellian title given the religious police of Saudi Arabia. But, according to journalist Nadin Al-Badir, those virtuous cops are often ex-cons with histories of violence and drug dealing.

But it's worse than that. Al-Badir related to a television audience in Egypt just how barbaric their policies can be -- as in beating a man to death because of his hair length or in forcing more than a dozen young girls to die in a fire because they were not wearing traditional Islamic head coverings.

Here's the story.

Barack Obama Is the Anti-Patriot

2012-01-20T10:56:00.000-06:00

It's a rare thing but the two big Posts (the newspapers of Washington and New York) are bothered today about the same thing; namely, Barack Obama's mind-numbing cancellation of the Keystone pipeline. First the New York Post editorial:

Who knows how many potential jobs President Obama killed yesterday when he bowed to hard-core environmental activists and put an indefinite hold on the mammoth Keystone XL oil pipeline?

Beyond doubt, it was a lot.

At the same time, he planted a big wet one on his greenie base — which he’ll need to hold on to if he’s to win re-election. Obviously, he has his priorities...

That will make the left very happy. But, again, it does nothing for job-creation and — more important over the long term — does even less for energy independence. (Whatever happened to Obama’s promise to find ways to wean the nation off of Middle Eastern oil, anyway?)

Moreover, it’s an open invitation to Canada to instead build the pipeline for another major oil consumer — China.

Ironically, Obama’s announcement came just a day after his own Council on Jobs and Competitiveness called for an “all-in approach” to energy — including expanded oil and gas drilling and expediting new projects...

And now the Washington Post:

Mr. Obama’s Jobs Council could start by calling out -- the Obama administration.

On Wednesday, the State Department announced that it recommended rejecting the application of TransCanada Corp. to build the Keystone XL oil pipeline, and Mr. Obama concurred. The project would have transported heavy, oil-like bitumen from Alberta — and, potentially, from unconventional oil deposits in states such as Montana — to U.S. refineries on the Gulf of Mexico coast...

We almost hope this was a political call because, on the substance, there should be no question. Without the pipeline, Canada would still export its bitumen — with long-term trends in the global market, it’s far too valuable to keep in the ground — but it would go to China. And, as a State Department report found, U.S. refineries would still import low-quality crude — just from the Middle East. Stopping the pipeline, then, wouldn’t do anything to reduce global warming, but it would almost certainly require more oil to be transported across oceans in tankers...

But the best analysis of all is from a Washington Post op/ed piece from Robert J. Samuelson. Entitled "Rejecting the Keystone Pipeline is an Act of Insanity," Samuelson's column is spot on in underscoring Obama's base and unprecedented anti-Americanism.

President Obama’s rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico is an act of national insanity. It isn’t often that a president makes a decision that has no redeeming virtues and — beyond the symbolism — won’t even advance the goals of the groups that demanded it. All it tells us is that Obama is so obsessed with his reelection that, through some sort of political calculus, he believes that placating his environmental supporters will improve his chances.

Aside from the political and public relations victory, environmentalists won’t get much. Stopping the pipeline won’t halt the development of tar sands, to which the Canadian government is committed; therefore, there will be little effect on global-warming emissions. Indeed, Obama’s decision might add to them. If Canada builds a pipeline from Alberta to the Pacific for export to Asia, moving all that oil across the ocean by tanker will create extra emissions. There will also be the risk of added spills.

Now consider how Obama’s decision hurts the United States. For starters, it insults and antagonizes a strong ally; getting future Canadian cooperation on other issues will be harder. Next, it threatens a large source of relatively secure oil that, combined with new discoveries in the United States, could reduce (though not eliminate) our dependence on insecure foreign oil...

The big winners are the Chinese. They must be celebrating their good fortune and wondering how the crazy Americans could repudiate such a huge supply of nearby energy...

By law, Obama’s decision was supposed to reflect “the national interest.” His standard was his political interest. The State Department had spent three years evaluating Keystone and appeared ready to approve the project by year-end 2011. Then the administration, citing opposition to the pipeline’s route in Nebraska, reversed course and postponed a decision to 2013 — after the election.

Now, reacting to a congressional deadline to decide, Obama rejected the proposal. But he also suggested that a new application with a modified Nebraska route — already being negotiated — might be approved, after the election. So the sop tossed to the environmentalists could be temporary. The cynicism is breathtaking.

Today's Posts

2012-01-19T11:46:00.001-06:00

Mitt Romney Sends Millions to Mormon "Church"

New Book Den Entries

Are Even More Radical Sex Ed Programs Heading to Your Government School?

Planned Parenthood Insider: It's All About Selling Abortion
A Keystone of Stupidity: Obama's Anti-American Pipeline Decision

The Economist: "Even Non-Christians Should Worry" About the Persecuted Church

Mitt Romney Sends Millions to Mormon "Church"

2012-01-19T09:43:00.001-06:00

ABC News is reporting on Mitt Romney's ongoing tithe and other donations to the Church of Latter Day Saints. It's a staggering amount of money too -- at least $4 million in just the last five years and, through stock contributions that have not been fully disclosed, possibly millions more.

So, let me try to take this in -- the fellow that the Republicans are going to nominate to run for the Presidency of the United States gives millions to a religious group that teaches millions of planets throughout the universe are ruled by individual gods? And that Earth's "heavenly father" (Elohim) lives on Kolob with his goddess wives where he engages in sexual activity and creates spirit babies? And that Lucifer and Jesus are brothers? And that Jesus won the vote of a celestial council to be the savior of Earth's race?

And, even without getting to the holy underwear, the polygamy, the curse on non-Aryans, the ancient American civilizations that never were, the baptisms for the dead, that's just the beginning of the really kooky stuff.

No, let's face it. Mitt Romney's big-government RINO baggage alone should disqualify him from serious consideration. Beyond that, there is his extremely poor history on the moral issues -- remember the contribution to Planned Parenthood? But, for crying out loud, is not an enthusiastic commitment to the absurdities of Mormonism a clear signal that Mitt Romney is anything but a balanced, rational, profound thinker?

Gravitas is more than slicked back, slightly graying hair. Gravitas is having some sense about the world around (and above) you.

By the way, you can bet the mainstream media will suddenly discover a strong interest in the bizarre tenets and history of Mormonism...just after Mitt Romney wins the G.O.P. nomination. And imagine Mr. Romney in front of Barbara Walters or in a televised debate trying to answer questions about pre-existence, Moroni, the golden tablets, and so on. Even Barack Obama will look better to the American voters after that.

New Book Den Entries

2012-01-19T09:28:00.000-06:00

I don't get over to The Book Den with much regularity anymore. Yet, because of the interesting topics covered there in the past, there are a lot of web surfers who find their way to it every day -- over 500 so far this month.

That should compel me to be a bit more active on the site...if other duties didn't press in so. Nevertheless, in keeping with the desire, I've added three items over there this morning:

A Most Moving "Edwardian" Experience

Dorothy Sayers Quotables

2011's Reading Review

I hope the readers (and even the TV viewers!) among you find them of interest.

Are Even More Radical Sex Ed Programs Heading to Your Government School?

2012-01-19T09:19:00.002-06:00

“Ideally, comprehensive sexuality education should start in kindergarten and continue through 12th grade.”

And that "comprehensive" education should include sexual orientation issues (i.e. understanding "sexual orientation as the romantic attraction of an individual to someone of the same gender or a different gender” by the 5th grade level), emergency contraception, different kinds of family structures (by the 2nd grade), body parts and how they function sexually, and how to "identify parents or other trusted adults of whom students can ask questions about sexual orientation.”

These are some of the goals reflected in an influential National Sexuality Education Standards report, created by a professional group of advisers -- a group which just happens to include the National Education Association, the American School Health Association, Planned Parenthood and the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network.

And you still say that sending your kids to the government schools is no big deal?

Wake up, parents. Wake up, preachers. Wake up, taxpayers.

Planned Parenthood Insider: It's All About Selling Abortion

2012-01-19T08:54:00.000-06:00

Catherine Anthony Adair, a former employee of Planned Parenthood, wrote an op-ed for the Washington Examiner back in November that is still making waves. I wanted to make sure that you had a chance to read it AND that you would then have a very powerful piece to pass along to those who still imagine Planned Parenthood to be a pro-woman charity instead of the demonstrably anti-women mega-abortion corporation that it actually is.

In 1997, I began working at a Boston Planned Parenthood clinic as a young, idealistic college student who strongly believed in what I had been told about the organization, that I would be helping other young women access safe and affordable health care.

But I quickly came to learn that the message Planned Parenthood advertised did not reflect reality. I was disillusioned by the betrayal that was perpetrated against patients and the public alike.

My time there was not spent providing prenatal care to pregnant women, providing counseling or basic health care services or educating women about reproductive health.

Instead, I spent my days urging women to terminate their pregnancies. My superiors constantly reminded me of our abortion-centered business model: abortions first, everything else came second...

Planned Parenthood's mission is to pressure as many women into having an abortion as it can. Those in charge know that can't be accomplished if they refer to the child as a "baby."

Then women would know what was really growing inside them: a little person with a beating heart, functioning nervous system, tiny hands and feet. The child is entirely disregarded. There is no counseling, no care, no waiting and no discussion. Once a pregnancy is confirmed, it is off to termination.

Planned Parenthood takes specific advantage of women who are too young or misinformed to know better than to trust them with their well-being. Those who know the truth have a duty to speak out.

Do not be fooled by their sound bites and statistical manipulations. Planned Parenthood is not "pro-women," as it claims to be. It is pro-abortion. It does not stand for women. It stands for ending our pregnancies. Women are treated as commodities, not as human beings.

We must shed light on what Planned Parenthood actually does. It spends millions of dollars each year to ensure that the American taxpayer will continue subsidizing its abortion services.

Last year, Planned Parenthood's efforts bought in a record $363 million in government funding. It generates so much by making false claims about how public funding reduces the number of abortions.

But the numbers tell a different story. From 2000 to 2009, Planned Parenthood saw an 80 percent increase in taxpayer funding and a 69 percent increase in the number of abortions it performed.

Women deserve better.

A Keystone of Stupidity: Obama's Anti-American Pipeline Decision

2012-01-19T08:38:00.001-06:00

John Hinderaker over at Power Line writes about the obstinate and decidedly anti-American action of Barack Obama to cancel Keystone.

Incredibly, President Obama today denied the application for a permit to construct the Keystone XL Pipeline. Obama’s statement tried, rather pathetically, to blame his decision on the Republicans, who ostensibly rushed him into making up his mind prematurely. Of course, the Keystone application has been pending for more than three years–how impatient can the Republicans get?

We have written repeatedly about the economic benefits of the Keystone pipeline; for example here, where we quoted from a study by the Perryman Group which concluded that the pipeline would create an immediate 118,000 person years of employment via construction, while the long-term impact in the energy industry would be from 250,000 to 550,000 jobs. Not to mention cheaper energy prices, which will make all Americans richer, American products more competitive abroad, and will create, indirectly, still more jobs.

So what on earth is Barack Obama thinking? This item on the White House web site perhaps offers a clue. It is, to be blunt, almost unbelievably stupid...

Read the rest of Hinderaker's important article right here.

The Economist: "Even Non-Christians Should Worry" About the Persecuted Church

2012-01-19T08:19:00.001-06:00

The Economist, that venerable British magazine, is taking note of the persecution of Christians around the world. Indeed, more than taking note, the editors are calling for even secular nations to start taking action to stop it. Thank you, Economist.

Below are excerpts from the editorial:

The world’s most widely followed faith is gathering persecutors. Even non-Christians should worry about that.

Christianity is growing almost as fast as humanity itself, but its 2.2 billion adherents cannot count on safety in numbers. That is partly because the locus of the world’s largest religion is shifting to hotter (in several senses) parts of the world...

But moving from the jaded north to the dynamic south does not portend an easy future. In Nigeria scores of Christians have died in Islamist bomb attacks, targeting Christmas prayers. In Iran and Pakistan Christians are on death row, for “apostasy”—quitting Islam—or blasphemy. Dozens of churches in Indonesia have been attacked or shut. Two-thirds of Iraq’s pre-war Christian population have fled. In Egypt and Syria, where secular despots gave Christianity a shield of sorts, political upheaval and Muslim zeal threaten ancient Christian groups. Not all Christianity’s woes are down to Muslims. The faith faces harassment in formally communist China and Vietnam. In India Hindu nationalists want to penalise Christians who make converts. In the Holy Land local churches are caught between Israeli encroachment on their property and Islamist bids to monopolise Palestinian life. Followers of Jesus may yet become a rarity in his homeland...

Among liberal values, the freedom to profess any religion or none has a central place. America’s government is bound by law to promote that liberty. In line with its own ideals, America is rightly as concerned by the persecution of Muslims of any stripe as by the travails of Christians in China or Jews and Bahais in Iran. And it objects when Christian lands, like Belarus, practise persecution. Other more secular Western countries should do more to defend that right.

What about those who see persecuting other religions as part of their calling? No faith is blameless: from Delhi to Jerusalem many of those stirring up hatred are men of God. But there is a specific problem with Islam. Islamic law (though not the Koran) has often mandated death for people leaving the faith...

Today's Posts

2012-01-18T10:22:00.002-06:00

On Heroes

Costa Concordia Tragedy: "Get Back On Board, Captain!"

Can Secrecy Save Baby Girls From Abortion?

Do the Communists of China Hate Poetry? Or Justice?

Adult Stem Cells "Converted" Into Other Types

More "Don't Miss" Recommendations

On Heroes

2012-01-18T10:14:00.001-06:00

Costa Concordia Tragedy: "Get Back On Board, Captain!"

2012-01-18T10:04:00.000-06:00

A sea captain pulls a dangerous stunt that he knows full well endangers the lives of the thousands of passengers and crew in his care. Then, when his "instincts" fail and he sinks the ship, he ignores his responsibility to keep order and rescue lives.

Instead, he deserts his post, "trips" into the nearest lifeboat, and has to be ordered again and again to return to the ship to carry out his duties.

It is an incredible, tragic story with all kinds of subplots and cultural applications.

Check out this story -- and don't miss the riveting clip that goes with it.

Can Secrecy Save Baby Girls From Abortion?

2012-01-18T09:40:00.000-06:00

How do we keep baby girls safe from death? According to one doctor, the answer may be to withhold the child’s sex until he or she is at least 30 weeks old – too late for the easy “fix,” a no-questions-asked abortion.

According to MSNBC, Dr. Rajenda Kale, interim editor-in-chief of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, is arguing that physicians can help prevent sex-selective abortions by simply not disclosing the baby’s sex to the parents until later in the pregnancy. Abortions based on sex are particularly prevalent in many Asian countries, including Korea, China, and India, due to a strong cultural preference for sons over daughters. Not only do people in those countries routinely kill their girls in the womb, but immigrants have even brought the practice to the U.S. and Canada...

Here's more from the Susan B. Anthony List..

Do the Communists of China Hate Poetry? Or Justice?

2012-01-18T09:34:00.000-06:00

According to Communist China, the escalation of recent harassment, arrests and imprisonment of human rights activists in that nation is no big deal. Of course not. To them, persecuting Christians, reformers, and other persons of conscience is just the same old stuff.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin says, "The Chinese side attaches great importance to promoting and protecting the fundamental rights and interests of people of all ethnic groups, including the freedom of expression and of religion." Please, keep the laughter down. "As for some people who have dealt with the law, it's not because their freedom of expression and freedom of religion have been suppressed, it's because they have violated Chinese laws and regulations and so should be punished by the law. It has nothing to do with so-called human rights."

Of course, the operative term there is "so-called human rights."

Thus the Communist government justifies such actions as the recent arrest of Zhu Yufu on subversion charges -- for writing a poem and posting it on the internet. The poem didn't call for the overthrow of the government; it didn't urge violence, vandalism or even civil disobedience. It merely called for people to gather together to express their yearning for more liberty.

Zhu's lawyer will attempt a defense on the basis of freedom of expression, but he holds out little hope for an acquittal. "You can't be optimistic about anything in China," he said. "In this country, he'll be punished harshly."

Here's more from Reuters.

Adult Stem Cells "Converted" Into Other Types

2012-01-18T09:05:00.001-06:00

“We’re very excited about where this could lead because it overcomes many of the obstacles present with embryonic stem cells.”

That's James Hickman, University of Central Florida bioengineer, describing another adult stem cell breakthrough. In this case, stem cells from umbilical cords have been converted into other types of cells, a significant step forward in developing new treatments for spinal cord injuries, multiple sclerosis, and other ailments related to the nervous system.

Here's Barbara Abney's LifeNews.com story on this exciting event.

More "Don't Miss" Recommendations

2012-01-18T08:41:00.000-06:00

* Rich Lowry, editor of National Review, has a compelling piece which dramatically contrasts the chivalrous attitudes of the Edwardian era (exemplified by the men of the Titanic) with the selfish panic displayed by the captain and crew of the Costa Concordia. And they say culture has progressed?

* "So what are the reasons, in this age of the iPhone, Xbox, and PlayStation -- or Fox News blondes and HBO -- to sit down and read old stuff for an hour or two each week? Here are a few reasons [from Victor Davis Hanson] other than the usual defense of the 'classics,' the 'canon,' and the glories of 'Western civilization.'" Bookmark it. Print it off. Maybe even hand out copies on the street. It is that good.

* From a most unexpected source (the Washington Post's Sally Quinn) comes a remarkably positive column about Tim Tebow.

* Over in the Washington Times, William Murchison reviews a new biography of one of our most profound Founding Fathers, the "Christian republican" Patrick Henry. The book is Patrick Henry: First Among Patriots and Murchison's review may be more than enough incentive for you to put in your order.

* I have never met a serious Christian who would consider sending their child to a Muslim school or a Hindu school or even a Mormon school. Why? It’s very simple. Christians don’t want their children to grow up to be Muslims, Hindus or Mormons. We want our kids to grow up to become Christians.

However, millions of Christians send their kids off to be trained every day in the religion of godless secularism and seem to think nothing of it. Humanist Charles F. Potter understood better than most Christians. He said, “Education is thus a most powerful ally of humanism, and every American school is a school of humanism. What can a theistic Sunday School’s meeting for an hour once a week and teaching only a fraction of the children do to stem the tide of the five-day program of humanistic teaching?” Great question!

Is it any wonder that the church has lost such a great number of young people? Once their faith in the Word of God has been eroded, it’s almost impossible for them to take the church serious...(Read the rest of Jeff Keaton's "Who is Evangelizing Your Child?" right here.)

Today's Posts

2012-01-17T11:36:00.000-06:00

What's Happening...And What's Going To Happen?

Another Superlative Barack Obama Has Earned

Wanna' Line Up With Tim Tebow?

Just What Will Grow In The Arab Spring?

Barack Obama: A Legend In His Own Mind

Top 10 of Jodi Kantor's Book

Newsweek Cover Story: Critics of Obama Are Dumb

What's Happening...And What's Going To Happen?

2012-01-17T11:25:00.000-06:00

Even though we do not present a "When Swing Was King" today, we still have a very full to-do list in front of us with a lot of letters to be written and sent, a couple of errands, an afternoon haircut and a few hours in the kitchen. This latter activity is due to our postponing the "Santa runs" we had scheduled for the 12 Days of Christmas (that doggone tooth problem). But since Dr. Curry performed his magic with a difficult (but painless for me) root canal, we're ready to prepare the cookies (Claire's task) and the cornbread and sausage dressing (my job) for delivery over the next couple of days.

And yes, as you'll see from the posts below, I've also managed to get in some blogging today.

But the key point of this post is to draw your attention to some really important opportunities coming your way. Please check these out and consider joining us in these events. They are all terrific chances for you to be informed, inspired and "properly invested." Just click on the links provided for more information.

* "The State of the Pro-Life Movement" by John Eidsmoe -- Friday evening, January 20 at the Valentino’s Restaurant at 101st and Maple.

* The annual Walk for Life in Lincoln featuring Ryan Bomberger on Saturday morning, January 28th.

* "In the Beginning: Celebrating & Defending the Doctrine of Creation in a Naturalistic Culture." This is the theme of the 2012 Rochester L’Abri Conference on February 10 & 11. Pat Osborne and Claire and I are planning on going up for what promises to be a weekend of enlightenment, encouragement and networking.

Interested in joining us? It would make a terrific road trip!

Among the general sessions scheduled are "Still Being Human" (Ranald Macaulay) and "Who Were Adam and Eve and Why Should Anyone Care? (Jack Collins) with plenty of stimulating elective seminars such as "Sex, Lies, and Secularism" (Nancy Pearcey), "Christ and Creation " (Clarke Scheibe), "Philosophical and Scientific Evidence for the Creation of the Universe" (Greg Jesson), "Thinking Past Poptarts: Our Call to Creativity for the 21st Century Household" (Sue Morrell), "The Greatest Sermon Ever" (Ranald Macaulay), "How Christian Faith Helps us to Love Science" (Jack Collins) and "Growing Grey in Never-Never Land: Reflections on Psalm 90" (Nancy Snyder).

Another Superlative Barack Obama Has Earned

2012-01-17T11:03:00.000-06:00

Wanna' Line Up With Tim Tebow?

2012-01-17T10:25:00.000-06:00

Okay, you've now been entertained, and maybe even inspired, by the enthusiasm, humility, faith, work ethic and talent of Heisman Trophy winner and now Denver Bronco quarterback Tim Tebow.

So isn't about time you check out the remarkable impact he is having off the football field?

Indeed, the Tim Tebow Foundation is involved in a lot of profoundly important missions -- missions that are spreading faith, giving help and hope, and saving lives. The foundation's work is happening in Gainesville, Florida; Denver, Colorado; Washington, D.C.; Atlanta, Georgia; and the countries of the Philippines, Bangladesh and Haiti.

Claire and I have decided to join the team. How about coming along for the ride?

The Tim Tebow Foundation's website is right here. And over here is the Foundation's Facebook site.

Just What Will Grow In The Arab Spring?

2012-01-17T10:18:00.000-06:00

Did I just read that correctly? It looked like the Times of London described the Arab Spring as "a movement as inspiring as the fall of communism."

Melanie Phillips feels like I do.

Rub your eyes indeed. The fact is that the principal outcome of this ‘Arab Winter’ is the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood -- the anti-Jew, anti-woman, anti-gay, anti-human rights body of jihadists that is currently making spectacular inroads into the western culture it intends to conquer, as well as mounting selective murderous attacks as through the Hamas in Gaza; and close behind them are Islamists who are yet more extreme. Those relatively moderate Arab countries which have not yet succumbed to the Islamists, such as Jordan, are desperately holding out; but the gains the extremists have made in Egypt and elsewhere mean that such resistance against them has been weakened.

The British government’s partner in this crime against freedom, the Obama administration – acting in accordance with the Obama doctrine of embracing America’s mortal foes while dumping on its allies –has now openly reached out to the Brothers. While reports have been denied that Obama has used the spiritual leader of the Brotherhood Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi as an intermediary in the American surrender talks with the Taleban, the overtures by the US to the Brotherhood are being openly acknowledged.

The reason given is that since these guys have won power through elections, the US has no alternative but to talk to them. Neville Chamberlain said much the same thing at Munich...
And, make mo mistake, the Muslim Brotherhood's ultimate goals are not dissimilar to those planned by Mr. Chamberlain's adversary. Case in point? Phillips quotes Dr. Muhammad Badi, the supreme leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, in one of his weekly addresses:

The Brotherhood is getting closer to achieving its greatest goal as envisioned by its founder, Imam Hassan al-Banna. This will be accomplished by establishing a righteous and fair ruling system, with all its institutions and associations, including a government evolving into a rightly guided caliphate and mastership of the world.

...The Imam [Banna] delineated transitional goals and detailed methods to achieve this greatest objective, starting by reforming the individual, followed by building the family, the society, the government, and then a rightly guided caliphate and finally mastership of the world

...In this Arab spring, the revolutionary people were determined to achieve particular, obvious goals. They were adamant and uncompromising about goals such as the end of unjust regimes and the ousting of unfair rulers, to rid our countries of all corrupt systems that usurped our resources and thwarted our progress. And today we are very close to achieving a major goal by establishing a righteous and fair ruling system with all its institutions and guiding principles.

Melanie Phillips concludes,

What Mr Hague bashfully declines to acknowledge is his own government’s role in this disaster. It was the UK along with the US which helped lever Mubarak out of power in Egypt and went to war to remove Gaddafy in Libya. It is the UK and the US which have therefore helped bring about the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood in these countries and the region.

It is the UK and the US which have thus helped bring to power a jihadi movement which oppresses and enslaves the unfortunates that it rules, and which is waging a war of conquest against the entire free world. It is the UK and the US which have galvanised that movement by helping persuade it that it is well on the way to achieving its objectives of a restored medieval Islamic caliphate and the Islamic takeover of the entire world.

Barack Obama: A Legend In His Own Mind

2012-01-17T09:53:00.000-06:00

Top 10 of Jodi Kantor's Book on the Obamas

2012-01-17T09:44:00.000-06:00

You say you don't have the time to read The Obamas by New York Times reporter Jodi Kantor. Me too. Nevertheless, I was pleased to see the editors of Human Events did so and graciously passed along the Top 10 Obama Revelations that were within its pages.

Here's that article.

Newsweek Cover Story: Critics of Obama Are Dumb

2012-01-17T09:37:00.004-06:00

You say that your Aunt Minnie still thinks that the mainstream media isn't strongly, mindlessly and unfairly biased against conservative values?

Show her this Newsweek cover.

And yes, the article inside is just as distorted and irresponsible.

Off To Lincoln

2012-01-13T07:33:00.001-06:00

Because of a pro-life meeting in Lincoln this morning followed by a "When Swing Was King" presentation this afternoon, I'll have to beg off blogging today. Back next Monday.

Todays Posts

2012-01-12T09:28:00.002-06:00

Pray, Work, Hope for This Day

National Boycott of the Girl Scouts Proposed By...A Girl Scout!

Supreme Court: Churches Do Have Some Rights, After All

Piercings, Tanning, Aspirin Prohibited to Minors -- But Abortion Is Okay

Pray, Work, Hope for This Day

2012-01-12T09:08:00.000-06:00

National Boycott of the Girl Scouts Proposed By...A Girl Scout!

2012-01-12T08:35:00.000-06:00

If the Girl Scouts of America wasn't controversial enough as the public learns more about the organization's partnerships with Planned Parenthood, their promotion of New Age nuttiness, and their inclusion of transgendered males into their ranks, here is a new problem: a young Girl Scout who is leading the charge for a national boycott.

Watch the clip and then check out this Vital Signs post, "After Too Many Hard Left Turns, the Girl Scouts Are Lost." You'll notice that the post has links to several others which give more information about the bizarre transformation of the Girl Scouts and why you would do well to keep your cookie money (and your daughters) away from this increasingly far-left organization.

Supreme Court: Churches Do Have Some Rights, After All

2012-01-12T08:08:00.000-06:00

Religious workers can't sue for job discrimination, the Supreme Court ruled Wednesday, saying for the first time that churches—not courts—are the best judges of whether clergy and other religious employees should be fired or hired.

But the high court tempered its decision bolstering the constitutional separation of church and state by refusing to give a detailed description of what constitutes a religious employee, which left an untold number of workers at churches, synagogues and other religious organizations still in limbo over whether government antidiscrimination laws protect them in job bias disputes.

It was, nevertheless, the first time the high court has acknowledged the existence of a so-called "ministerial exception" to anti-discrimination laws—a doctrine developed in lower court rulings. This doctrine says the First Amendment's guarantee of freedom of religion shields churches and their operations from the reach of such protective laws when the issue involves religious employees of these institutions.

"The interest of society in the enforcement of employment discrimination statutes is undoubtedly important," Chief Justice John Roberts said in a unanimous opinion. "But so too is the interest of religious groups in choosing who will preach their beliefs, teach their faith and carry out their mission."

Douglass Laycock, who argued the case for a church school that fired a teacher for bringing about an employment discrimination lawsuit against it, called it a "huge win for religious liberty."...

This is good news, of course, but the decision isn't as far reaching as it should have been. Therefore, there will undoubtedly be more cases in the future. Read more in this Denver Post article.

(H/T Ron Rizzo.)

Piercings, Tanning, Aspirin Prohibited to Minors -- But Abortion Is Okay

2012-01-12T07:57:00.000-06:00

A California law recently went into effect that bans minors, defined as anyone under the age of 18, from using a tanning bed. The prohibition is absolute and there is no provision for parental permission.

Lawmakers say the tan ban is necessary in order to protect the health and well-being of young people. California is the only state thus far to have a complete ban on tanning for minors. Other states allow the practice with a parent's permission.

The Golden State has other laws intended to safeguard the health of young people.

If you are under 18 in California, you are forbidden from getting a tattoo. Like the tan ban, the law is absolute. A minor cannot get inked even with a parent's permission.

A person under 18 can get his or her ear or ears pierced; however, piercing any other body part will require a parent's approval. A minor is also allowed to take an aspirin at school but only with a parent's permission.

For the record, I've no problem with laws that require parental permission for practices or procedures that could have negative health repercussions or life-long consequences for a minor.

It is clear that lawmakers in California believe that some practices are so unhealthy that they will not even allow parents the option of allowing their children to take part. However, there is one glaring exception -- abortion...

Read the rest of Kelly Bogg's Baptist Press article right here.

Today's Posts

2012-01-11T11:11:00.000-06:00

And You Thought TV Was Bad Now

About Zondervan's New "Gender-Neutral" Bible

Will Hollywood Do Right by The Iron Lady?

Planned Parenthood Is In Decline...But Propped Up By Your Tax Dollars

China's Ace Up Its Sleeve? Barack Obama.

And You Thought TV Was Bad Now

2012-01-11T11:02:00.000-06:00

If you thought network TV was pushing the envelope now, hang on to your remotes! This morning, the U.S. Supreme Court heard a case that could send parents lunging for the channel changer. Ten years after "Law & Order" showed a nude woman on its show, broadcasters are still fighting to turn programming into a 24-hour uncensored free-for-all. Under their interpretation of "free speech," networks have the right to use as much nudity and profanity as they see fit. And if the court agrees, families will be an on/off switch away from X-rated primetime. Imagine a world, argued President Bush's former Solicitor General, where even Big Bird could use the f-word!

Right now, the only thing standing in the way of parents and TV's brave new programming is the Obama administration. Since the Federal Communications Commission falls under the Executive Branch, it's up to the President's team to defend the FCC's powers. (Ironically, the administration will be defending powers that it hasn't exactly exercised. Under President Obama's FCC chief, 1.4 million complaints are still pending.)...

If the outcome is a green light for red light programming, you can bet that more parents will swear off television!

(Family Research Council Family Update)

About Zondervan's New "Gender-Neutral" Bible

2012-01-11T10:57:00.000-06:00

Our longtime friend and Vital Signs Ministries Board Member, Quint Coppi, was bothered about a new version of the Bible being published by Zondervan. And he was bothered with very good reason. For not only does this new "gender neutral" version demonstrate Zondervan's sad lurch away from theological accuracy and towards political correctness but also because of the heavy-handed tactics Zondervan has employed in pushing this particular version; that is, in refusing to publish any "NIV" except this new one, despite many calls for them to keep the textually accurate (and extremely popular) 1984 NIV in publication.

Well, Quint took his concerns to the leaders of his Church, Glad Tidings Assembly of God. And after careful examination, they decided to join with the Southern Baptist Convention in suggesting Christians look elsewhere. I applaud them for doing the right thing.

Here, from the Glad Tidings web site, is their recommendation.

With the responsibility that accompanies our role as shepherds of God’s flock and entails many aspects of an individual’s relationship with God, others and our growth in Christ, we want to issue a warning concerning a recent Bible translation being published by Bliblica and Zondervan Publishing House. Below is a copy of an Official Resolution regarding the newest translation of the New International Version of the Bible issued by the Southern Baptist Convention. Glad Tidings Church fully endorses their technical characterization of the translation and their position on the dangers of the translation communicated in their resolution.

We at Glad Tidings Church are frequently asked by individuals for recommendations as to what Bible versions to use for study or daily devotionals. This newest version of the NIV is one that we do not recommend of either. Previous published versions of the NIV are still widely accepted in the general church community as well as at Glad Tidings Church. Please use caution and discretion whenever you are deciding on a new Bible purchase. God’s word is inspired, inerrant, and infallible in its original languages. The men and women who translate the original languages are not. If you do not have confidence in your selecting of a Bible translation, we encourage you to seek guidance from a mature believer or pastoral staff. We desire to see any believer grow in the knowledge and understanding of the inspired scriptures. Proper, healthy growth will only take place with “healthy” food. A bad Bible translation will inhibit and even harm proper, healthy spiritual growth that comes with the correct understanding of the nature of God, His provisions, promises, blessings, and warnings to His followers. (2 Timothy 3:16–17)

WHEREAS, Many Southern Baptist pastors and laypeople have trusted and used the 1984 New International Version (NIV) translation to the great benefit of the Kingdom; and

WHEREAS, Biblica and Zondervan Publishing House are publishing an updated version of the New International Version (NIV) which incorporates gender neutral methods of translation; and

WHEREAS, Southern Baptists repeatedly have affirmed our commitment to the full inspiration and authority of Scripture (2 Timothy 3:15-16) and, in 1997, urged every Bible publisher and translation group to resist “gender-neutral” translation of Scripture; and

WHEREAS, This translation alters the meaning of hundreds of verses, most significantly by erasing gender-specific details which appear in the original language; and

WHEREAS, Although it is possible for Bible scholars to disagree about translation methods or which English words best translate the original languages, the 2011 NIV has gone beyond acceptable translation standards; and

WHEREAS, Seventy-five percent of the inaccurate gender language found in the TNIV is retained in the 2011 NIV; and

WHEREAS, The Southern Baptist Convention has passed a similar resolution concerning the TNIV in 2002; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the messengers of the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, June 14-15, 2011 express profound disappointment with Biblica and Zondervan Publishing House for this inaccurate translation of God’s inspired Scripture; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we encourage pastors to make their congregations aware of the translation errors found in the 2011 NIV; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we respectfully request that LifeWay not make this inaccurate translation available for sale in their bookstores; and be it finally

RESOLVED, That we cannot commend the 2011 NIV to Southern Baptists or the larger Christian community.

Will Hollywood Do Right by The Iron Lady?

2012-01-11T10:38:00.001-06:00

Are you looking forward to the nationwide release of The Iron Lady, a major "biopic" which stars Meryl Streep as Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher? If you're a genuine lover of freedom (or, for that matter, historical accuracy), then I'd suggest you not get your hopes up too high.

After all, the film is getting even more than the standard hype from Hollywood (and you know how they feel about conservatives out there) and in an interview with the New York Times, Streep compared Lady Thatcher to King Lear as she wondered why leaders do “monstrous things."

So here's a suggestion. Why not defer spending your money on the movie -- at least until you've read the film's review by Dr. Nile Gardiner, director of the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom at The Heritage Foundation, former foreign policy researcher to Lady Thatcher, and a regular commentator on films for Britain’s Telegraph newspaper. He will do so for the Heritage Foundation's Foundry page next week.

And until then? Theodore Bromund at the Foundry has a few ideas:

But whether the film is good, bad, indifferent, or just misguided, you don’t have to rely on Hollywood for your history. The real Lady Thatcher, patron of The Heritage Foundation, has a record that stands on its own, and she would want–she would demand–nothing more than to be judged by her own deeds and words.

That’s why, throughout this week and next, we will highlight some of Lady Thatcher’s greatest speeches, from her 1983 reminder to Britain’s Conservative Party that “there is no such thing as public money” to her staunch support for the sovereign, democratic nation-state in 1988 to her eulogy in 2004 for her friend, the late President Ronald Reagan.

If you want more, it’s easy to find. The Margaret Thatcher Foundation offers free online access to thousands of historical documents–speeches, official government documents, commentary, and much more–covering Lady Thatcher’s entire career, including more than 8,000 statements by Lady Thatcher herself.

Any conservative, any friend of liberty, indeed anyone with an interest in the history of the 20th century will find much here to treasure. If The Iron Lady does less than justice to the reality of Lady Thatcher’s life, it won’t be because her record is hidden. On the contrary: it’s there for all to read...

Planned Parenthood Is In Decline...But Propped Up By Your Tax Dollars

2012-01-11T10:09:00.000-06:00

Reading through the fine print of Planned Parenthood's recent report and putting its revelations in context, STOPP International (the American Life League partner that specializes in exposing and opposing Planned Parenthood) has published a pretty thorough analysis. You can read it all right here.

But if you're in a hurry, bookmark it for later but at least scan through a few of the highlights as written up by Jill Stanek.

Income DOWN 4.7%
Profit DOWN 70.8%
Contributions DOWN 27%
Abortions DOWN .7% (first year-to-year decline since 93-94)
Total “services” DOWN 2.09% first year-to-year decline since 96-97)
Affiliates/clinic numbers DOWN 7.4%/2.9% respectively (see chart above)
Sex ed program attendees DOWN 8.3%
Prenatal services DOWN 23%
Adoption referrals DOWN 13.9%

We may see Planned Parenthood’s abortion numbers continue to decline as it becomes more careful about aborting underage girls, thanks to Live Action’s undercover investigations.

Now the bad news…

Government funding UP 34%
Taxpayer funding now 46.5% of PP income
PP sells abortion to 98.14% of women seeking pregnancy related care
Abortion comprises 51.5% of PP’s clinic income (see chart above)
Total number of children aborted by PP equals population of Washington, DC, metro area

Isn't it time we start screaming bloody murder (an all-too-appropriate cry) about politicians and judges forcing us to support this monstrous abortion business?

China's Ace Up Its Sleeve? Barack Obama.

2012-01-11T09:46:00.000-06:00

...The list of countries potentially hostile to the United States – Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, Syria, and Russia — is frighteningly long and could increase on moment’s notice to include Pakistan or any number of Arab Islamist states. We already compete with China for controlling military presence in the Pacific. China could decide to take Taiwan by force, or China’s fragile peace with India could break.

Future military conflict with China is likely to be of a conventional sort, rather than the hit-and-run terrorist engagement the Pentagon is preparing for. To counter China, we need substantial conventional forces and a large defense budget.

Just how large is the Chinese military, and how will we stack up once the Obama Pentagon cuts kick in? The facts suggest that China’s military power will equal our own in a relatively brief period of time thanks to Obama’s downgrading of U.S. military power...

Within less than five years, the United States will no longer be the world’s dominant military power. China will be our equal. In U.S. politics, some may welcome the loss of military dominance. Others will fear that we will inhabit a more dangerous new world in which we are less able to protect ourselves.

(Paul Roderick Gregory, "Know Thine Enemy: China And Obama's Defense Cuts," Forbes)

Today's Posts

2012-01-10T09:14:00.000-06:00

Please Don't Tell Me Who Won the National Championship!

Rick Santorum's Conservative Credentials

Omaha Alert: Upcoming Pro-Life Talk by John Eidsmoe

The Obamas' World of Wonderland

A Post-Game Photo to Treasure

Planned Parenthood Boss: Thank Us for ObamaCare!

Barack Obama Is a No-Show for General Petraeus Retirement

Please Don't Tell Me Who Won the National Championship!

2012-01-10T09:12:00.000-06:00

Trying to go through my usual blogging routine without going to regular news pages is a tough order. But I've successfully accomplished it by bookmarking last night a bunch of things I could safely go through this morning.

What's the deal?

I'm trying to avoid seeing who won the national championship last night between LSU and Alabama.

You see, Americans who are unconnected to either cable or satellite (like myself) are not allowed to watch the BCS championship. Indeed, many of the NCAA's major sporting events are now available only to subscribers of cable TV. And I fear it's a trend that will only continue until ESPN controls the Super Bowl, the Masters, and the World Series as well.

Where's the Occupy ESPN movement expressing its outrage at this unjust discrimination? Where are the Democrats insisting on the rights of unplugged Americans? Why didn't George Stephanopolous bring this burning question up at the Republican debate last Sunday? (Oh, wait. He works for ABC/ESPN. Never mind.)

No, I guess I'll just have to walk this lonely path myself, choosing either to 1) break down and subscribe; 2) go buy a fancy smart phone with the appropriately high-priced app which brings in the BCS bowl games; 3) start frequenting the local sports bars ("See that poor sod over there trying to nurse that Diet Coke all night? You won't believe this, hon, but the word is that he doesn't have cable at his house!"); or 4) do what I did last year -- ask Claire to download the game's replay from iTunes.

But since that isn't available yet, I'm desperately trying to avoid seeing who won. So, if you see me out today, remember...silence is golden.

Rick Santorum's Conservative Credentials

2012-01-10T08:22:00.000-06:00

Quin Hillyer, one of the senior editors for The American Spectator, is banging the drum pretty hard for Rick Santorum, comparing him to Ronald Reagan. Check it out.

The attempt to attach a “big-government conservative” label to Rick Santorum for some rare wanderings from the conservative reservation makes about as much sense as arguing that record-breaking Drew Brees of the Saints is a poor quarterback because he threw 14 interceptions this season.

The reality is that Rick Santorum’s instincts and intellectual choices consistently tend toward freedom.

On taxes, for instance, Santorum has always been superb. The Club for Growth’s white paper on Santorum, calling his tax stances “very strong,” confirms that “Santorum has consistently supported broad-based tax cuts and opposed tax increases either by sponsoring key legislation or by casting votes on relevant bills.”

His record on a host of other conservative issues is as solid as that of any politician in the past two decades. He has been firmly and repeatedly against all sorts of regulatory abuse, against McCain-Feingold and other restrictions on political speech, for school choice, for tort reform, for a strong military, and for a balanced-budget amendment.

Obviously he has been as stalwart a defender of social conservatism, for 20 full years, as any other public figure. And as virtually every conservative involved in the judicial wars during Santorum’s time in the Senate has confirmed, in person or in print, Santorum and his staff were the go-to people in the Senate when you needed to find tireless, committed advocates for conservative jurists. Santorum is, wrote Ed Whelan of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, “the candidate in whom I have by far the greatest confidence” in terms of how likely he would be “to appoint excellent Supreme Court justices and lower-court judges and to work tenaciously to get them confirmed.”...

More broadly, until Rep. Paul Ryan’s recent prominence, nobody in Congress has been as passionate and fearless an advocate for entitlement reform as Santorum. Medicaid block grants. Investment accounts for Social Security. Medicare payments controlled by the beneficiaries rather than third-party payers. Choice rather than government mandates...

As for overall spending and his much-discussed history of support for “earmarks” (a position also shared by tightwad Ron Paul), conservative groups’ ratings show that Santorum was better than the average Republican, despite representing a state far bluer than those of most of his Republican colleagues...

Of one thing conservatives can be absolutely sure: Unlike politicians who lack the courage of conservative convictions, Rick Santorum will fight for his causes and not be scared off by “establishment” criticism. In four uphill elections and in legislative skirmishes for conservative ends too numerous to count, Santorum has won a decidedly impressive number of his fights.

Omaha Alert: Upcoming Pro-Life Talk by John Eidsmoe

2012-01-10T08:09:00.000-06:00

Colonel John Eidsmoe (author, constitutional law professor, debater and a Third Degree Black Belt) will be in Omaha on Friday, January 20 to talk about the latest legal and political efforts being made across the country to defend the sanctity of life. And because there will be an extended time for questions and answers, Colonel Eidsmoe will probably cover a whole lot of of other topics relevant to the culture wars we're engaged in.

The meeting (arranged by Dominion Covenant Church and Biblical Blueprints and co-sponsored by Vital Signs Ministries) will be at the Valentino’s Restaurant at 101st and Maple. There is no charge for the presentation except paying for your own meal. The event will begin at 6:30 with Colonel Eidsmoe beginning around 7.

We're sure you'll find the evening a provocative and encouraging one so please plan on joining us.

The Obamas' World of Wonderland

2012-01-10T07:43:00.001-06:00

Jack Niewold, the author of Frail Web of Intention, weighs in on the attitudes emanating from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

One of the habits of the current occupants of the White House that has struck many Americans as inappropriate is the Neronian splendor and detachment that seems to have set in with the Obamas. The Alice in Wonderland party now coming to light is yet another example of this, to be added to constant vacationing, the opulent cuisine, the cheap Paul McCartney Bush slanders, and the palpable condescension of these aristocrats for those "beneath" them. Think of the frisson of delight felt by Michelle when she contemplated being addressed as "Your Excellency."

This is not a matter of harmless peccadilloes.

As with most liberals, theirs is a world of two sets of values: those for themselves, which are warranted by their imputed grandeur and superior morals, and those for the rest of us, who are subjects more than citizens. Like the debauchees in the Satyricon, our progressive grandees have really come to believe that their elevated spirits will render the empire safe, so it is merely a distraction to mock and impersonate the legions and centurions shivering at the northern marches.

A Post-Game Photo to Treasure

2012-01-10T07:31:00.000-06:00

No doubt this photo will start ACLU-types squawking but the rest of America can be reassured that such splendid things as prayer, genuine sportsmanship, and a clear sense of life's priorities are still alive and well in the NFL. An absolutely thrilling photo.

Planned Parenthood Boss: Thank Us for ObamaCare!

2012-01-10T07:22:00.000-06:00

Among the many things about Planned Parenthood that Americans can rightly be infuriated about is the mega-abortion corporation's bragging that it helped shape the ugliest and most unjust elements of ObamaCare; namely, the elimination of conscience rights and the requirement of all Americans to finance the killing of preborn boys and girls.

Here's the story.

Barack Obama Is a No-Show for General Petraeus Retirement

2012-01-10T07:12:00.000-06:00

You would think that when General David H. Petraeus performed the final chapter in his storied 37-year career in the U.S. Army that Barack Obama would have been on hand.

Wouldn't you?

But then again, this is Barack Obama. And so it appears that the President just couldn't fit the event into his busy schedule of golf games, fundraising dinners, vacations and White House parties.

My, oh my. It's just another in an increasingly long (and very disturbing) series of high level snubs directed at the genuine heroes of our nation by the remarkably self-absorbed socialist who masquerades as our Commander in Chief.

Of course, the story of Obama's shamelessly going AWOL for this key event wasn't covered by the press. Indeed, few of the "mainstream media" bothered to cover the General Petraeus event itself. However, thanks to the Washington Times, you can get a few of the details of the ceremony as well as a well-deserved thank you to General David Petraeus. Check it out right here.

Thanks to Ralph & Linda Aldrich for alerting me to this important story.

Today's Posts

2012-01-09T06:44:00.001-06:00

Planned Parenthood: The Stink Is Beginning To Rise

The Perfect Place for a Christmas Village

The G.O.P. Race Proves the Tea Party Is Dead

Planned Parenthood: The Stink Is Beginning To Rise

2012-01-09T06:29:00.000-06:00

Pro-life advocates have prayed for decades that the shame and scandal which Planned Parenthood so richly deserved would finally become their public portion. And many of us have added to our prayers our educational efforts, sidewalk counseling, peaceful protest, letter-writing, political advocacy and more.

But it has only been in the last few years that we have seen this shame and scandal finally begin to stick to the mega-abortion corporation that is Planned Parenthood. Thank You, Lord.

Live Action's undercover videos exposing the abortionists' vile procedures (including the repeated cover up of statutory rape) have not been covered by the mainstream media. But the alternative media has reported the news. And thus more and more Americans are aware of the truly sinister nature of Planned Parenthood.

Several state legislatures have attempted to de-fund the giant abortion business. And even though the Obama administration, liberal judges and the Democrat Party continue to fight those de-funding actions, the public is learning the truth; namely, that Planned Parenthood is a very rich corporation and not at all the needy charity as it has masqueraded.

There is also a beginning of grassroots opposition to Planned Parenthood's nefarious partnerships. For instance, parents are choosing to take their daughters out of Girl Scouts because of that organization's cozy relationship with Planned Parenthood. Many who would otherwise make donations to Komen for the Cure are looking elsewhere because of that organization's bizarre, counter-productive relationship with Planned Parenthood.

And parents are finally putting pressure on local school districts to get their kids away from Planned Parenthood's ineffective, immoral, abortion-selling "sex education" classes.

All of this is good news, hopeful news. But it is news that should merely fire us up to oppose the racist, elitist and bloody business of Planned Parenthood with greater fervency than ever.

Let's roll.

The Perfect Place for a Christmas Village

2012-01-09T05:41:00.002-06:00

For many years, my sister Sherry has set up a beautiful and elaborate Christmas village. When she does the complete thing, she needs two large tables with several tiers to accommodate all of the buildings, trees, outdoor settings, figures and so on.

It's a really impressive undertaking, complex and time-consuming, but the effects are well worth it. Indeed, onlookers can easily while away an hour taking in all of the individual scenes. Imagination, memories and emotions all find a charming enchantment.

As GK Chesterton said of the toy theater, one can have an intense and radical experience of very large realities when looking through small windows. It gives a different (sometimes, an ironically clearer) perspective on life. Thus, the fascination all warm-hearted people feel in the presence of doll houses, miniature railroads, museum dioramas...and Christmas villages.

So can you think of a more pleasant place to create a Christmas village than a local nursing home, a better place for boredom to be banished by the potent powers of memory and imagination and wonder and beauty? Neither can I. And that's why I'm so proud of Sherry for deciding this year to take her Christmas village to a nursing home near her so that the seniors there could appreciate it.

And boy, oh boy, did they!

Way to go, Sis!

The G.O.P. Race Proves the Tea Party Is Dead

2012-01-09T05:12:00.001-06:00

Seriously, folks; this developing preference for Mitt Romney (or, for that matter, Rick Santorum or Newt Gingrich) shows that the optimism, fervor and idealism of the Tea Party movement have all run off the cliff.

And the only people happier about this than the deep pockets of the Republicans In Name Only are the leftist media...and the leaders of the Democrat Party.

Writes Kevin McCullough

I don't know what happened between November of 2010 and January of 2012, but from the looks of things the Tea Party died.

How else do you explain it?

Rewind to November of 2010, race after race, congressional seat after congressional seat, Governorship after Governorship. Only a little more than eighteen months after President Obama had packed the mall in Washington for his historic inaugural, the Tea Party held it's historic event in which nearly the same size audience had attended--according to maps supplied by the USA Today. That event catapulted a state by state tsunami-like momentum where grassroots, low tax, small government, pro-founding principles, pro-life, pro-national security, and pro-God forces aligned and an election victory of historic equivalence shook America in 2010.

The driving force of that agitation then as it is still today was the effect of a poor economy, government intervention, federal overreach, bureaucratic mandates, and punitive taxes on the nation's beleaguered small business community. Entitlements, bail-outs, and criminally reckless spending ensued.

The Tea Party believed that the buffoons authoring the mess should be dealt a blow. And in 2010 they leveled power in the Congress...

Yet only a little over a year later and the goal of the Tea Party to complete it's work and overturn Obamacare is all but dead.

In 2010 even Ann Coulter was making speeches at CPAC warning that if we chose the candidate who had authored Obamacare to become the nominee, then President Obama would be easily re-elected. She was right of course.

But somewhere along the line instead of being bold, defiant, grassroots, and in control, someone started feeding voters the meme that the man who saw to it that $50 state-subsidized abortions were included in his vision of mandated government health care, was the best of poor choices.

Even Ann Coulter 2.0 drank the kool-aid.

Worse yet the choices that are left in the race are establishment folks who ate earmarks for a living in Pennsylvania, embraced government involvement in the biggest hoax of our time--man made Global Warming, and who could forget the man that as Governor of Massachusetts raised taxes on everything from gasoline to "certificates of blindness."

Read the rest of Kevin McCullough's penetrating column, "When the Tea Party Died," right here.

Today's Posts

2012-01-06T06:48:00.000-06:00

"When Swing Was King" Is Good Medicine

Barack Obama's Disdain for the Law

4 New Year's Resolutions for Conservatives

A Life Which Blessed Others

91% of Pregnant Women Going to Planned Parenthood Get Abortions

Clint Walker Talks with Mark Levin

Mistake in the Iowa Count? Did Romney Really Win?

The False God Has Gone to Earth (And Further Down)

"When Swing Was King" Is Good Medicine

2012-01-06T06:37:00.000-06:00

I'm still dealing with the distracting pain of this cracked tooth and the resultant raw nerve so yesterday was a bit rough. True, I've been prescribed painkillers but I didn't react well to them Wednesday so I'm avoiding those. Still, with God's grace (part of which is given through Claire's assistance), we had a good day. I blogged in the morning. Claire cleaned the house and baked cookies. And then we took off in the afternoon for Life Care Center.

We had our first of 2012's "When Swing Was King" programs scheduled at LCC and we were looking forward to it. LCC was where my Mom lived the last two years of her life and it was there that we first debuted "When Swing Was King" in the summer of 2010.

As always, the staff and residents there gave us a great reception. There were about 22 on hand for the music, Power Point and commentary. The edition we're leading off with in January includes Glenn Miller's version of "King Porter's Stomp," Duke Ellington's "Don't Get Around Much Anymore," Guy Lombardo's "Boo Hoo," Ray Anthony's "Stars Fell on Alabama," Judy Garland's "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and many more. Terrific tunes all.

Before we got the music started we visited around with the residents and Claire went down to each nursing station to drop off a plate of cookies. It's not the only reason the staff likes us to visit -- but it's a good one! She also had a plate for the office staff and even a few specifically set aside for the maintenance crew.

After the program, we visited some more and then we filled up all the bird feeders around the place. As you can imagine, it was a bit sad when we filled the ones outside Mom's old room but the thought of her smiling down from heaven in a body unwracked by pain or with a mind unaffected by dementia (instead of looking out the window from her wheelchair) really lifted our spirits. God be praised for the rich and eternal inheritance of those who trust in Christ's sacrifice as payment for sins!

So, yes; yesterday was a day of blessing that even a bad toothache couldn't negate. Thank You, Lord.

Barack Obama's Disdain for the Law

2012-01-06T05:59:00.000-06:00

4 New Year's Resolutions for Conservatives

2012-01-06T05:56:00.000-06:00

1) Speak of Federalism, not "States' Rights"

States don’t have rights. People do.

States have powers. Nowhere in the Constitution are states said to possess rights. Congress has certain powers, clearly enumerated in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution, and the conservative-favorite Tenth Amendment makes clear that all the other powers are reserved to the states.

Not only is it incorrect to speak of states’ rights, but the expression has more baggage than Samsonite and Louis Vuitton combined. In case you didn’t know, “states’ rights” was the rallying cry of segregationists. Since no right-thinking conservative will keep company with such people, let’s just drop the term states’ rights once and for all.

If you’re concerned about federal encroachments on state sovereignty or the erosion of federalism–as you should be–then speak of federal encroachments on state sovereignty or the erosion of federalism. Or of the need to restore limited constitutional government, reinvigorate local self-government, decentralize power or check the growth of out-of-control government. With so many great formulations to choose from, why weaken the case for liberty by relying on “states’” rights?

The above is the first of four "New Year's Resolutions for Conservatives" as outlined by David Azerrad, the Assistant Director of the B. Kenneth Simon Center for Principles and Politics. Read what Azerrad has to say about the other three (2. Resist the Nullification Temptation; 3. Isolationism is un-American; and 4. Equality is not a four-letter word) right here.

A Life Which Blessed Others

2012-01-06T05:45:00.000-06:00

Cal Thomas writes about his brother, Marshall Stephen Thomas, who passed away earlier this week. It is, as can always be expected from Cal Thomas, a touching and profound piece. But this is special, less an obituary than it is an effective apologetic for the sanctity of human life, its unique and incomparable value before the Creator God, and the blessing of family's love and care.

91% of Pregnant Women Going to Planned Parenthood Get Abortions

2012-01-06T05:24:00.002-06:00

That new report on Planned Parenthood that I've been mentioning the last few days? (Spotlight on Planned Parenthood and The Latest Numbers Prove Again -- Planned Parenthood Is All About Abortion)

Well here's a quick review by Steven Ertelt of LifeNews.com about its most salient points.

The new document the abortion organization posted shows Planned Parenthood did 329,445 abortions in 2010 while it provided prenatal care to only 31,098 women and referred only 841 women to adoption agencies.

The number of women receiving prenatal care dropped significantly from 2009 to 2010, as the abortion business helped 40,489 women in 2009 — meaning almost 10,000 fewer women received prenatal support from Planned Parenthood last year than the year prior, or a drop of almost 25 percent.

The number of women getting adoption referrals also declined — from a low 977 in 2009 to 841 last year, or a decline of 14 percent.

Examined another way Planned Parenthood does 391 abortions for every adoption referral it makes and almost 11 abortions for every woman it helps with prenatal care.

And here are a couple of important related articles: "Planned Parenthood: 51% of Its Income Comes From Abortions" (LifeNews.com) and Michael Norton's Town Hall column, "Is Planned Parenthood Texting Your Kids?"

Clint Walker Talks with Mark Levin

2012-01-06T05:04:00.000-06:00

Calling all baby boomers!

I have a hunch you're going to enjoy listening to this radio conversation between Mark Levin and the rugged Western TV and movie star, Clint Walker. I certainly did.

Fun stuff.

Mistake in the Iowa Count? Did Romney Really Win?

2012-01-06T04:57:00.000-06:00

Mitt Romney won the Iowa caucuses by 8 votes, right?

Uh...let's count 'em up again.

Edward True, 28, of Moulton, said he helped count the votes and jotted the results down on a piece of paper to post to his Facebook page. He said when he checked to make sure the Republican Party of Iowa got the count right, he said he was shocked to find they hadn't.

"When Mitt Romney won Iowa by eight votes and I've got a 20-vote discrepancy here, that right there says Rick Santorum won Iowa," True said. "Not Mitt Romney."

True said at his 53-person caucus at the Garrett Memorial Library, Romney received two votes. According to the Iowa Republican Party's website, True's precinct cast 22 votes for Romney.

"This is huge," True said. "It essentially changes who won."

True reiterated Thursday night that he is 100-percent certain that his figures from that night were correct. He said he has checked with his precinct chairman and the GOP county chairman and they confirmed his numbers...

The False God Has Gone to Earth (And Further Down)

2012-01-06T04:33:00.000-06:00

Kim Jong-Il was truly a modern Stalin—in some ways, worse. His cult of personality began with the advent of his birth, which North Korea heralded as a second coming, eerily akin to the birth of Jesus Christ. Kim was born February 16, 1941, a date accorded the status of a national holiday and treated like Christmas. On that date, all North Koreans are allowed off work for the grandest parade, the highlight of which is a float marked by a glorious double rainbow and star—indicative of the double rainbow and new star that miraculously appeared in the sky the moment of Kim’s birth.

Speaking of miracles, the totalitarian state’s propaganda machine churned out outrageous distortions, easily exceeding even Stalin standards. State media claimed that in the first round of golf Kim ever played, he broke the all-time world record for the best round of golf in history. The government press also reported that Kim composed more and better operas—and at a younger age—than anyone who ever existed. Songs like “Dear Leader Dispels Raging Storms” were karaoke hits in North Korea.

An eyewitness to the madness was Kang Chol-hwan, author of the frightening memoir, "Aquariums of Pyongyang." Kang recalled how as a child he and his wide-eyed classmates were taught that Kim and his late father were “Edenic” human beings, so perfect that neither man defecated or urinated. They were born without sin, if not purer. My faith teaches that Christ was both 100 percent human and 100 percent divine. North Korea tipped the scales even higher...

The regime was hell-bent on this messiah complex. The consistent, dogged application of this divine narrative was unrelenting and sickening. I could give example after example that would make you cry. It was evil, just plain evil.

Compounding the obscenity is this tragic truth: no modern people have been so repressed and persecuted. North Koreans experienced a government-induced famine where two-to-three million people (10-15 percent of the population) starved to death from 1995-98. The place is a living, breathing (actually, dying) tragedy. At its apex sat Kim, whose omnipresent face and figure literally hovered above the masses in murals and statues and screens...

This viciously atheistic regime that pursued a classic communist war on religion was devoutly religious itself. Ironically, it had not banned religion; it had nationalized it, centralized it, redistributed it—all in the form of Kim Jong-Il. Just as North Korea’s communist government had taken over all industry, all agriculture, and even all crime, it had also seized all faith.

When Whittaker Chambers once commented on the ultimate crime of communists, he explained that they had grossly repeated humanity’s original mistake: “Ye shall be as Gods.”

Ah, in that sense, Kim was indeed “Edenic.”

Kim Jong-Il presented himself to his suffering people as their god and their salvation. Instead, he was their downfall. He was the worst embodiment of the fall of man, and he in turn felled a nation and a people in the ugly process.

Christmas is no time for false messiahs. The worst of them, Kim Jong-Il, spent this season no longer among the living. His people can rest in peace. I have a strong suspicion Kim is not. This Christmas time, little old Kim finally had some explaining to do. He is at long last accountable for his sins.

(Dr. Paul Kengor, "A Kim-Less Christmas," Town Hall via American Thinker. Very good column.)

Today's Posts

2012-01-05T08:38:00.000-06:00

What a Week!

Are You Better Off After Obama?

Media Refuses to Report Planned Parenthood Scandals

"We Can't Afford To Keep Old People Alive."

Barack Obama: No Respect for American System of Government

The Salvation Army & Abortion

Honey Bee Mystery May Be Solved

What a Week!

2012-01-05T08:30:00.000-06:00

What a week! (Is it really only Thursday?) So far we've 1) encountered an invasion of computer viruses (yes, plural); 2) had said viruses defeated by the able and generous Steve Young; 3) cancelled Santa runs" and even a dinner party because of a raw nerve in a cracked tooth; 4) made an emergency visit to the dentist (Dr. Roger Curry, also quite able and generous) who prescribed antibiotics, pain killers and an appointment for a root canal next week; 5) managed to host another dinner party with great guests Ron & Linda Scheffler, Karla Struble, John and Pattie Velasquez; 6) joined with friends in sidewalk counseling outside the abortion mill; 7) blogged; 8) worked on next week's sermon; 9) did the end-of-year finances for Vital Signs Ministries and 10) wrote letters, read Chesterton and edited the next edition of "When Swing Was King."

Today, on this last day of Christmas, we start off the New Year with the first presentation in our revised "When Swing Was King" schedule. We will also try to finish our correspondence as well.

And all the while dealing with this bothersome tooth business. Sigh.

Tomorrow it's more of the same plus we will prepare the meal for our last dinner party of the Christmas season. Our Epiphany event (7 guests this year) will feature the dinner and our traditional practices: candlelight conversation, listening to Dylan Thomas reciting "A Child's Christmas in Wales," and the ceremony of wrapping up the nativity figures. We're looking forward to it.

Are You Better Off After Obama?

2012-01-05T08:27:00.000-06:00

Media Refuses to Report Planned Parenthood Scandals

2012-01-05T07:35:00.001-06:00

While ABC, CBS and NBC kept its scandals quiet, abortion group raked in 34 percent more federal money in 2011.

* Less than 8 percent (4 out of 55) of stories on three major networks about Planned Parenthood in 2011 mention scandals

* Media focus on trivial stories about celebrities (38 stories on Charlie Sheen, 10 stories on Mila Kunis’ Marine Corps Ball invite), bury Planned Parenthood-related scandals with just four mentions

* 61 percent of Americans think that abortion should be legal in “only a few” or no circumstances, yet Planned Parenthood, nation’s largest abortion provider, receives $487 million in federal funding.

What does Planned Parenthood have to do for a mention on the network news? The group provides services abhorred by much of the American population and it has been riddled with scandal recently. But according to the abortion group’s latest figures, its intake of federal tax dollars up by more than a third, and that it is 90 percent-funded by federal money.Sounds like a controversial story. Too bad ABC, CBS and NBC haven’t been paying attention...

Paul Wilson has a very good article here at LifeNews.com.

"We Can't Afford To Keep Old People Alive."

2012-01-05T07:30:00.001-06:00

“There are too many old people in this country and we can’t afford to keep them alive.”

Francis Phillips from the Catholic Herald (U.K.) reports on the latest moves of Lord Falconer and the Independent Commission on Assisted Dying to further escalate the cause of euthanasia in Great Britain.

Sad, scary stuff.