Caring Enough To Write

Do you think a letter to Tractor Supply thanking them for the recent reversal of their “woke policies” is in order? Yeah, I do too. What about letters of polite but firm protest to the International Olympic Committee regarding the shameful takeover of women’s sports by men pretending to be females? Or letters to the Secret Service about their horrific failures to protect presidential candidate Donald Trump? 

Don’t forget the dire need to inform family, friends, and church members of what’s at stake this fall regarding the extreme pro-abortion amendment that will be on Nebraska’s election ballot. And, finally, would thank-you notes to a few of the champions of the sanctity of life, religious freedom and other crucial, biblically-founded values be of important value? 

The answer, of course, is yes to these questions. And that suggests that an enthusiastic “yes” would be the right answer regarding letters that would share the light of truth, compassion, and justice in many other areas of social life.

This is why, of course, Vital Signs Ministries has been hosting regular letter writing parties ever since we began way back in 1983. It’s why we’re still doing it now -- hosting parties that provide information, motivation, accountability, and practical assistance in this important advocacy and encouragement ministry. Why not plan on joining us for our next letter-writing party? We will have a list of timely issues and relevant recipients for your letters and cards. We will have stationary, envelopes, and stamps. And we will have coffee, tea, cookies, and cakes to sustain you throughout the 90 minutes we use for letter writing!

We know that you will find it an encouraging, helpful and, rewarding time of fellowship and ministry, so please give us the word that you’ll come be a part. For your convenience, we actually provide 2 parties: Tuesday, July 30 at 10 and then that evening at 7, both at our home. We would love to have you join us, so please let us know if you’re interested. 

Dr. Harold Berry Guests at the Next VSM Book Brunch

The next Vital Signs Book Brunch will be at our home on Saturday morning,
September 21 from 10 until noon. And the book under discussion will not only be one “hot off the presses,” it has been written by our old friend and ministry colleague Dr. Harold Berry. At 90 years old, Harold is still researching and writing for Back to the Bible as well as teaching, mentoring, and pursuing a diligent prayer ministry with his newlywed wife, Mary Dee. It’s going to be an important adventure to read Harold Berry’s new book, Genesis: Daily Scriptures to Receive, Reflect, and Respond so don’t miss out.

Oh, did I mention that Harold Berry will be with us in person? That’s right; he will introduce the book, help lead the discussion, and patiently answer questions. Again, don’t miss this unique opportunity.

We are asking for prompt RSVPs in order for us to plan the brunch menu and be thoroughly prepared. For instance, if the gathering exceeds the space limits of our home, we will set up the Book Brunch at another location. So, please, let us know if you will be attending ASAP. There is no charge for the Book Brunch…except the cost of actually reading the book!

By the way, here’s more on the book from the publisher, “Genesis: Receive, Reflect, and Respond unveils profound truths about God, creation, sin, marriage, and the family. It also illuminates the depth of God’s love for humility and the path to salvation. Read with an open mind and ready heart, and be prepared to have God change you spiritually.”

Dr. Harold J. Berry is a former professor of Bible and Greek at Grace University of Omaha. He served for many years as personal assistant to Theodore H. Epp, founder of Back to the Bible. Dr. Berry holds a Master of Theology degree from Dallas Theological Seminary. and a Doctor of Divinity from Grace University.

FYI -- You can get Harold Berry’s Genesis: Receive, Reflect, and Respond through Amazon as either a Kindle version ($10) or a 300-page paperback ($15). 

The Top 5 (July 20)

* "Republicans Need Better Abortion Messaging To Beat Democrats’ Money And Marketing" (Joseph Arlinghaus, Federalist)

From the article -- While we pro-life people have mostly lobbied our friends in legislatures, Democrats have marketed their pro-abortion ideas. Democrats are great at marketing. Us? Not so much. And marketing thrives on big budgets. Hollywood, Silicon Valley, and Wall Street donors have offered almost unlimited amounts for abortion propaganda, and they want to see the official Democrat Party spend even more.

But Republicans have remained scared of abortion, and Republican donors have been told abortion is a loser so many times that they simply refuse to consider there might be a way to beat Democrats at this game. But there is a way to win with pro-life messages...

* "Xi Jinping and China: Running Out of Time, Ready to Strike" (Gordon G. Chang, Gatestone Institute) 

From the article -- I believe that Xi wants war — or at least a ramping up of tensions — to prevent senior Chinese leaders from moving against him. He is not looking to rally the Chinese people with provocative actions or even an attack; he wants to defang political opponents in the Communist Party. Xi may not yet have made the decision to go to war, but he has clearly made the decision to risk war. That means he can strike when we least expect it.

* "The war against the Jews: In Britain, France and America, the left is on the wrong side." (Melanie Phillips,Jewish News Service)

From the article -- We have to face without flinching what is now undeniable: There is a war across the globe raging against the Jewish people. It’s a war not just to destroy their national homeland but to drive them out of people’s heads, their conscience and their world. Led by Muslims and the left, with its base in the universities, this war has extended much further than these circles into professional and commercial life...

Like the Biden administration in America, left-wing parties in Britain and France are displaying hostility to Israel and indifference to Jewish security when Israel is under existential attack, global Jew-hatred has reached stratospheric levels and tyrants everywhere are on a roll because of the West’s refusal to defend itself or even understand the priceless values that it needs to defend. Diaspora Jews ask where they can be safe. The answer is nowhere.

* "Media Cover Up the Jihad on French Churches" (Raymond Ibrahim, The Stream)

From the article is this map and and these comments: Bahl tried to discredit the map any way she could, including through barefaced ad hominem attacks: She described the Observatory of Christianophobia’s publication director as a “far right Catholic activist” (as if that tells us anything about the map’s veracity).

But because it is accurate, the best Bahl could do was to repeatedly and dismissively stress that it’s “outdated,” and therefore in no way representative of the current situation in France.

This is a ludicrous defense: If anything, the age of the map indicates that the situation in France is much worse now than it was five years ago. As Bahl herself stressed, it shows where churches were attacked in just 2018. Although only one year’s worth of church attacks is documented, the map is almost entirely red. How would it look if it showed all the church attacks that took place over the last six years? It would probably be pure red — a bloody war zone.

Churches are under attack all throughout France (once known, rather ironically, as the “Eldest Daughter of the Church”). This is an indisputable fact, irrespective of France 24’s sorry attempts at damage control.

* "Girl, 7, 'Too Young' for First Amendment Rights, Punished for 'Racist' BLM Drawing" (Kevin Downey Jr., PJ Media)

From the article -- The judge agreed that the artist's intentions were innocent, but woke is a joke and commies will gladly punish and humiliate anyone who doesn't fall in line, especially kids as they are easy to brainwash. U.S. Central District Court Judge David Carter ruled the punishment was just and righteous because the pint-sized Mosleyite was "too young to have First Amendment rights." 

'I was immediately angry, I didn't know what had happened, I knew it was wrong fundamentally," B.B.'s mon, Chelsea Boyle, told Fox News. "My daughter's rights were taken away, and I just started reaching out to find out what compelled speech was. I didn't know what it was until I spoke to attorneys." The case, now roughly three years old, will go to an Appeals Court. 

B.B.'s mom had no idea the punishment had taken place until another parent told her roughly a year after the woke nonsense took place. "As a child with ADHD, art is Ms. Boyle's daughter's main emotional outlet," Boyle family lawyer Alexander Haberbush told the press after launching the lawsuit. "The school has deprived her of that, and for what? For having the audacity to draw kids of all races getting along with the words ‘black lives matter,’ ‘any life’ matters."

Speaking of Heroes...

"We have every right to dream heroic dreams. Those who say that we're in a time when there are no heroes, they just don't know where to look." (President Ronald Reagan)

"A hero is a man who is afraid to run away." (English proverb)

"A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is braver five minutes longer." (Poet and essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson)

"Nurture your minds with great thoughts. To believe in the heroic makes heroes." (Benjamin Disraeli)

"As you get older, it is harder to have heroes, but it is sort of necessary." (Novelist Ernest Hemingway)

"You don't raise heroes, you raise sons. And if you treat them like sons, they'll turn out to be heroes, even if it's just in your own eyes." (Astronaut Walter M. Schirra, Sr.)

"Without heroes, we're all plain people and don't know how far we can go." (Novelist Bernard Malamud)

"Celebrities are people who make news, but heroes are people who make history. Time makes heroes but dissolves celebrities." (Historian Daniel J. Boorstin)

"I am of certain convinced that the greatest heroes are those who do their duty in the daily grind of domestic affairs whilst the world whirls as a maddening dreidel." (Humanitarian Florence Nightingale)

"The world has no room for cowards. We must all be ready somehow to toil, to suffer, to die. And yours is not the less noble because no drum beats before you when you go out into your daily battlefields, and no crowds shout about your coming when you return from your daily victory or defeat." (Writer Robert Louis Stevenson)

"Heroism is the divine relation which, in all times, unites a great man to other men." (Historian and essayist Thomas Carlyle)

"The real hero is always a hero by mistake; he dreams of being an honest coward like everybody else." (Novelist Umberto Eco)

"The prudent see only the difficulties, the bold only the advantages, of a great enterprise; the hero sees both; diminishes the former and makes the latter preponderate, and so conquers." (Theologian and poet Johann Kaspar Lavater)

"Poets and heroes are of the same race, the latter do what the former conceive." (Poet and politician Alphonse de Lamartine)

"If we lived in a State where virtue was profitable, common sense would make us good, and greed would make us saintly. And we'd live like animals or angels in the happy land that needs no heroes. But since in fact we see that avarice, anger, envy, pride, sloth, lust and stupidity commonly profit far beyond humility, chastity, fortitude, justice and thought, and have to choose, to be human at all … why then, perhaps we must stand fast a little--even at the risk of being heroes." (Robert Bolt's character, Sir Thomas More in the play, A Man for All Seasons)

(The hero photos in this section are of, from top to bottom, Neil Armstrong, Edith Cavell, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Thor Heyerdahl, Audie Murphy, Harriet Tubman, and missionary William Carey.)

Oh Monday, Monday

An engaging and memorable Monday began with an early morning coffee at Panera for plans, devotions and journal, and a bit of correspondence using our Colorado cards. Then Claire and I joined Mark and Keith for prayers and our pro-life witness outside the Planned Parenthood abortion business. I was able to speak to several of the workers and our large, winsome signs communicated the pro-life message to many, many people driving by. As we were getting ready to leave, Jim Bates and a few of his colleagues from his church in Columbus showed up for a time of public pro-life proclamation. What a faithful band of brothers they are to come so far.

Next Claire and I each took our vehicles out to the new Costco to gas up and we then stopped at Le Peeps for a late brunch. Claire had breakfast while I had a delicious chicken cranberry salad. We enjoyed both the meal and the break very much. One of the things we did while we were there was each share 10 “highlight entertainment events” from our lives. That was really fun. Claire’s list included a concert by Chicago when she was a teenager, several Omaha Symphony concerts, Agatha Christie’s Mousetrap in London, a one-man show with Hal Holbrook portraying Mark Twain, a couple of Andy Williams’ Christmas shows in Branson, and a baseball game in Yankee Stadium. Mine included a performance of Chess on Broadway, performances of the Belarus Bolshoi Ballet in Minsk, Phantom of the Opera in the West End of London, Moses at the Sight & Sound Theater in Branson, and concerts with such stars as Frankie Valli, Harry James, and the Flying W Wranglers. Most of those, of course, were events we had shared and so it was fun to reminisce. 

And then, staying with an entertainment theme, we presented 2 “When Swing Was King” shows in the afternoon. One was at Sterling Ridge and then next at Pacific Springs and. Both went swell -- good attendance, great enthusiasm and appreciation, and some terrific visits with folks before and after. And the evening? After a light dinner, it was Claire doing some housework and me reading Henry Williamson’s Tarka the Otter. Thank you, Lord for each blessing and each opportunity to serve that we enjoyed yesterday. And so, we pray right now -- and in concert with all of our brothers and sisters in Christ reading this post -- please keep us all walking carefully, obediently, and joyfully in the course you have set for us. Amen.

The Top 5 (Well, Maybe a Bit More This Week) (July 13)

This week has had so many "impact events" resulting in some remarkably insightful reporting (and equipping commentary) that I just couldn't stop at five this week. Indeed, here for this week is a Top 10. Note that it includes 4 articles from Suzanne Bowdey, the Senior Writer for Family Research Council's news outlet, The Washington Stand. Ms. Bowdey explores each angle with insight and skill -- and she outlines several important areas for our prayers, conversations, and correspondence. Don't miss any of them.

And there's yet a fifth article I've linked up for you dealing with that platform failure. It's an interview of Kristan Hawkins, the president of Students for Life of America, by The Stream's John Zmirak. 

Of course, other things were going on too this week. And that's where the other 5 items come in. Like the regular Top 5, I include a brief excerpt from each article to help you decide which ones to read...and to give you a key point or two even if you read only that.

Let's get to it.

* "Led by Trump, 2024 GOP Platform Slashes Decades of Pro-Life Priorities" (Suzanne Bowdey, Washington Stand)

From the article -- Fueling the concerns, of course, were the reports that Donald Trump was trying to gut the platform’s pro-family planks to avoid unnecessary “drama.” Those rumors, to the dismay of millions of conservatives, turned out to be true. The 16-page draft was a shell of its 2016 self in all the ways that mattered. Gone were the calls for protecting life from conception, for opposing taxpayer-funded abortion — at home through the Hyde Amendment or abroad through the Mexico City Policy. There was no insistence on safeguarding children from gender-mutilating surgery, no support for adoption, no demand for a federal role in limiting abortion.

* "GOP Delegates Hit Back on ‘Mockery’ of Platform Process with Rare Minority Report" (Suzanne Bowdey, Washington Stand)

From the article -- By the time the Trump campaign blasted out the GOP’s 2024 platform early Monday afternoon, most people in Milwaukee had to ask themselves: what just happened? For the delegates, who were sideswiped by the unconventional, fast-tracked, secret process, the entire morning felt surreal. The outcome was so pre-determined, so tightly controlled that most of the men and women who traveled from the furthest corners of the country wondered what they were even doing there.

While the RNC’s team and the Trump camp cheered the adoption of a platform they vowed would Make America Great Again, the mood on the ground wasn’t all that celebratory. It wasn’t just the outcome that was disturbing, “Washington Watch” guest host and former Congressman Jody Hice pointed out from Wisconsin, but also “how it all went down.”

* "Picking Up the Pieces after a Lifeless Platform: ‘The Battle Is Not Done’" (Suzanne Bowdey, Washington Stand)

From the article -- Back in Milwaukee, the shock is starting to wear off for the 112 men and women who were steamrolled by the RNC’s Monday heist. More are starting to speak up, including Iowan delegate Tamara Scott who called the whole stunt “heartbreaking.”

“I tell people, my role is to uphold or to preserve our Judeo-Christian foundations as a nation, to protect our constitutional liberties and freedoms, and … to protect our principles as a platform. And so it was heartbreaking,” she lamented. “It was heartbreaking.” Like so many others, she agreed the document “was not terrible” but insisted it “could be stronger, could be better.” In the end, Tamara wanted people to know, “We, as a party, are still pro-life. It’s just not the great language, the distinctive, definitive language that had clarity that we have enjoyed and stood with for 40 years. … It was taken off, as you know, without the ability to really even have a vote or have input as to whether or not it was removed. We were just presented with a brand new document.”

* "Josh Hawley: If Republicans Stop Fighting for Life at the Federal Level, then Dobbs Changed ‘Nothing’" (Suzanne Bowdey, Washington Stand)

From the article -- “Life is a principle that unites Republicans,” he insisted on Wednesday’s “Washington Watch.” “It’s one of the most important things that we have to offer the country in terms of our witness, and particularly for us as Christians.” And listen, he said, “We have been a pro-life party [since 1976]. … And I think at this moment in particular, when we see the right to life return to voters … we need all the more to say to [them], ‘You should support life. Here’s why we should be advocating for life.’ We shouldn’t be silent about it. We shouldn’t be reticent about it. We should be advocating for it. My concern is this platform seems to walk away from that and walk away from traditional marriage as well. And I think both are mistakes.”

* "Are Pro-Lifers Helpless Now, with Nowhere to Go? An interview with Kristan Hawkins of Students for Life of America" (John Zmirak, Stream)

From the article -- Here’s where the platform falls short: It does not actively address the reality that abortion is a local, state, and federal issue. The platform celebrates the reality that with Roe gone, states can now engage in policy. But given all the tax money, federal agency policy, and prejudice in favor of abortion littered through domestic and international programs, abortion is federal.

[Also] It sloppily includes a shout-out to contraception and IVF without noting some obvious issues. No one is trying to “ban” contraception. But an abortion lobby that gets money from the distribution of contraception, much of it potentially abortifacient, wants to force funding and mandates for more contraception without regard for whether that makes minors vulnerable to predators or violates our conscience rights. Nuns in the past had to go to court to prevent coerced support for contraception. And the statement on IVF ignores the chaos and controversy of an industry that has sloppily contributed to its public relations nightmare. As a business, it creates disposable people as standard operating procedure, commodifying women as surrogates and children as property. What does such “support” mean? That negligent, predatory business can prey on vulnerable women and families.

[Next] It also strips away some of the beautiful language that people loved, all for a rather nebulous goal, that no one requested, of getting a shorter platform.

* "Why The Court’s Murthy Ruling Is Probably The Worst Free Speech Decision In History" (Philip Hamburger, Federalist)

From the article -- A second problem was doctrinal. The Supreme Court has developed doctrine that encourages government to think it “can censor Americans through private entities as long as it is not too coercive.” Accordingly, with painful predictability, the oral argument in Murthy focused on whether or not there had been government coercion.

The implications were not lost on the government. Although it had slowed down its censorship machine during litigation, it revved it up after the court’s hearing emphasized coercion. As put by Matt Taibbi, “the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security reportedly resumed contact with Internet platforms after oral arguments in this case in March led them to expect a favorable ruling.”

The First Amendment, however, says nothing about coercion. On the contrary, it distinguishes between “abridging” the freedom of speech and “prohibiting” the free exercise of religion. As I have explained in great detail, the amendment thereby makes clear that the Constitution’s standard for a speech violation is abridging, that is, reducing, the freedom of speech, not coercion. A mere reduction of the freedom violates the First Amendment.

* "What Is a D & E Abortion? A Former Abortionist Explains...and Illustrates" (Vital Signs Blog)

From the article -- This is the 5-minute video narrated by former abortionist Kathi Aultman that is changing minds about abortion. It is particularly important to be viewed by those who maintain a "pro-choice" opinion.

* "Israel is losing the north: A zero-tolerance policy for Hezbollah rockets is the first step to saving the country – and its borders – as we know it" (Michael Oren, The Times of Israel)

From the article -- The situation deteriorates daily, yet Israel desperately wants to avoid an all-out war. Its response to Hezbollah’s assaults has been limited to the elimination of senior commanders and active terrorist cells. Unlike their Israeli counterparts, Lebanese border towns remain largely unscathed and the country is rigorously attracting tourism. Still, as the rocket fire from Lebanon increases, so, too, do the chances of a single missile hitting an army base or a school. Israel would have to respond massively. War would erupt not only with Hezbollah but also with Iran and its proxies. Swaths of Lebanon would be laid to waste.

And the world will once again blame Israel. The international media has almost totally ignored Hezbollah’s aggression or, as in the case of The New York Times, cast it as retaliation for Israeli attacks. Israel, meanwhile, has done little to lay the diplomatic groundwork for large scale military action. When I brought the first-ever delegation of uprooted Israelis to Washington last month, most of the Congressional and federal officials we met were utterly uninformed about the north.

That ignorance, more unconsciously, exists in Israel itself. Few seem aware of the dangerous shortage of medical and firefighting equipment in the border settlements, the dearth of bomb-proof shelters for their defenders, and even fuel for their generators. With much of the nation’s attention understandably focused on Gaza and the hostage crisis, and the government seemingly eager to play down its fear of war, northerners feel that the country has abandoned them. Their plight barely makes the news. They have no indication of when, if at all, the fighting will end or how Hezbollah will be forced to retreat from the border. IDF commanders in the region estimate that as many as 40% of its previous population is unlikely ever to return.

Israel is losing the north, but the loss will not be of land alone.

* "Up, Up and Away...Forever" (Denny Hartford, Vital Signs Blog)

From the article -- ...I was rather disgruntled at the sudden awakening but since she was so adamant, I stumbled over to the sliding glass door that led out to the balcony, drew open the shades and …wow upon wow…there they were!  About two dozen hot air balloons had come over Loveland Pass and were now moving pretty fast down the valley.  They were colorful.  They were colossal.  And they were close!  We were awestruck at the beauty, the grace, and the sheer uniqueness of the sight – these huge, silent beasts that carried passengers who were waving to us and wishing us good morning.  In various stages of undress, we waved back, feeling a pang of deep regret that we weren’t in one of those baskets with them, sailing through the crisp mountain air to who knows where - Frisco, Leadville, for all we knew, maybe Shangri-La.

Far from being annoyed at Sherry for waking us, we were all extremely grateful to her for giving us this rare and invaluable gift.  It was, in one sense, a fleeting moment.  The balloons moved so quickly that within minutes they were all gone from sight.  But, in another and very real sense, Sherry also gave us a forever moment because the combination of surprise, novelty, color, movement, the soulful longing everyone feels for travel and adventure…and the fact that we experienced it as a family... made that moment something that we will always treasure.  I’m feeling a glow just writing about it now...

* "The land of the freebie, for illegals" (Howie Carr, Boston Globe)

From the article -- Rarely do crimes by illegals make the news anymore. They’re here, they’re criminals, and the illegals know that no matter how heinous their crimes, there will most likely be no consequences because… Democrats. There was a story this week in the Wall Street Journal about increasing lawlessness in the Gaza Strip. It described the “overall breakdown of law and order” because “locking up criminals isn’t an option.”

Sounds like Massachusetts, doesn’t it?

In Middlesex County, an illegal alien welfare-collecting Haitian wasn’t arrested after being accused of raping an underage female at one of the local state-funded flophouses.Instead, a Lyft was called for him, at taxpayer expense, and the accused rapist was chauffeured in style to a different flophouse in a different county where he can continue his lifelong vacation at taxpayer expense.

What could possibly go wrong?

Another illegal-alien Haitian was accused of rape at a Plymouth County foreign flophouse. The Republican district attorney wanted bail set at $25,000. A bleeding-heart judge just cut it to $500, even though the state knows absolutely nothing about this guy, he has no ties to the community and, needless to say, no job.

18-Year Old Country Singer Scores Big with a New Pro-Life Anthem

 A song with a tender pro-life message has reached the top 5 on iTunes’ chart for country music less than three weeks after its release by 18-year old beauty Rachel Holt. 

Check out “I Was Gonna Be” below and then read Oliva Pero's story about the song, songwriter, and singer right here at the Daily Signal.  

 You're gonna' love it. And I sure hope you're gonna' pass it on.  

What Is a D & E Abortion? A Former Abortionist Explains...and Illustrates

This is the 5-minute video narrated by former abortionist Kathi Aultman that is changing minds about abortion. It is particularly important to be viewed by those who maintain a "pro-choice" opinion.

 

Another Very Embarrassing Problem for Darwinians

In continuing this month’s series of posts dealing with evolution, intelligent design, and divine creation, here is a slightly edited note from a Vital Signs Blog post from way back in July of 2008. However, the post’s content is as relevant as ever and even the article I mention at the conclusion is still online. Check it out.

“When a butterfly has to look like a leaf, not only are all the details of a leaf beautifully rendered but markings mimicking grub-bored holes are generously thrown in. ‘Natural Selection,’ in the Darwinian sense, could not explain the miraculous coincidence of imitative aspect and imitative behavior, nor could one appeal to the theory of ‘the struggle for life’ when a protective device was carried to a point of mimetic subtlety, exuberance, and luxury far in excess of a predator’s power of appreciation. I discovered in nature the non-utilitarian delights that I sought in art. Both were a form of magic, both were a game of intricate enchantment and deception.”

The above paragraph was written, not by William Jennings Bryan or Billy Sunday, but by the decidedly irreligious author of Lolita and Pale Fire (and, more importantly for my money, the translator of Pushkin), Vladimir Nabokov.

It turns out that Nabokov served as the curator of lepidoptera (butterflies) at Harvard University’s Museum of Comparative Zoology in the 1940s. In fact, according to his biographer, Nabokov “became the authority on the little-studied blue butterflies (polyommatini) of North and South America” and was “a pioneer in the study of butterflies’ microscopic anatomy, distinguishing otherwise almost identical blues by differences in their genital parts.” And besides his novels and short stories, he published articles in such scientific journals as The Entomologist, The Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, The Lepidopterists' News, and Psyche: A Journal of Entomology.

Of course, this creates a problem of embarrassment in the secular academic circles where Nabokov’s literary work has been so highly regarded. I mean, what’s with a renowned liberal humanist vigorously disputing evolution -- and doing so from the most intricate and informed scientific reasoning?

Richard Dawkins, call your office.

Here’s more from the Discovery Institute.

Up, Up and Away...Forever

(This post originally appeared in June of 2012.)

It was a little before six yesterday morning and I was on my way to Panera’s for my regular Tuesday morning routine – prayerfully planning out the week, clearing up correspondence and enjoying an always stimulating conversation with John Malek – when I saw a lonely but lovely hot air balloon hanging just over the southwest horizon.  It didn’t seem to be drifting at all; indeed, it held the same position the whole time of my drive and at least several minutes after I got my coffee.  But I was then distracted with work and the next time I looked up, maybe 20 minutes later, it was gone.

I wished I had my binoculars with me.  I wished too that Claire had seen it – hot air balloons are pretty rare in our part of the country.  But I especially wished my sister Sherry could have seen it too because she really likes hot air balloons and still cherishes the dream, as yet unfulfilled, of gliding through the air in this colorful, buoyant style.

In fact, gazing at this hot air balloon made me think of three things and the first directly concerned Sherry.  It is a vivid memory of an early morning in the mountains of Colorado sometime back in the late 80’s.  The Hartford clan was having one of its very few family reunions.  Sherry was there with her family, Mom, Claire and I, Ric and his wife, James, and Linda and her family.  We had a wonderful time that week but the highlight of the whole event was Sherry tearing through the place very early one morning (we were all still abed) and yelling at everyone to get up and look out the windows.

I was rather disgruntled at the sudden awakening but since she was so adamant, I stumbled over to the sliding glass door that led out to the balcony, drew open the shades and …wow upon wow…there they were!  About two dozen hot air balloons had come over Loveland Pass and were now moving pretty fast down the valley.  They were colorful.  They were colossal.  And they were close!  We were awestruck at the beauty, the grace, and the sheer uniqueness of the sight – these huge, silent beasts that carried passengers who were waving to us and wishing us good morning.  In various stages of undress, we waved back, feeling a pang of deep regret that we weren’t in one of those baskets with them, sailing through the crisp mountain air to who knows where - Frisco, Leadville, for all we knew, maybe Shangri-La.

Far from being annoyed at Sherry for waking us, we were all extremely grateful to her for giving us this rare and invaluable gift.  It was, in one sense, a fleeting moment.  The balloons moved so quickly that within minutes they were all gone from sight.  But, in another and very real sense, Sherry also gave us a forever moment because the combination of surprise, novelty, color, movement, the soulful longing everyone feels for travel and adventure…and the fact that we experienced it as a family... made that moment something that we will always treasure.  I’m feeling a glow just writing about it now.

But the second train of thought elicited by that balloon yesterday morning was a bit more philosophical for it caused me to also think of the song which Americans of my generation invariably link with hot air balloons; namely, the lilting lyrics of Jimmy Webb’s “Up, Up and Away” as delivered by the Fifth Dimension.  The song is exquisite – nearly every Webb song is – and the incomparable voices of Marilyn McCoo, Billy Davis, Jr and the rest of the Fifth Dimension almost guaranteed that it would be one of the most popular songs of the 1960’s.

But it’s not just the sound of “Up, Up and Away” that gave it almost anthem status for the flower children.  It was the sentiment of the song too – the sentiment of escapism.  Sure, love songs and poetry have, throughout the ages, tended towards this theme.  “Make the world go away.  We’ll build a world of our own.  Fly me to the moon.”  And so on.  But there was a particularly pronounced escapism of the 1960’s youth culture that went beyond romance.  For some that involved outright rebellion, the laborious attempt to change what they believed was a restraining status quo. But for many more, the response to the world was just escape. And whether the “drop out” route involved drugs or drink, the intensity of sensual pleasure or immersion in the minutiae of popular entertainment, quadraphonic sound or religious mysticism, the goal was self-absorption.

Many of the Fifth Dimension's songs fit this mood -- “Age of Aquarius,” “Stoned Soul Picnic,” “Paper Cup,” “Sweet Blindness,” and, of course, “Up, Up and Away.” They described the delight of finding a refuge from the harshness of the real world. They weren't songs of rebellion. Those came from harder-edged groups.  No, the Fifth Dimension offered a mellow, more sensual route of escape.  Make love, not war. Harmony and understanding. Party hearty.  Hold a good thought for cosmic convergence.

The lyrics to “Paper Cup” (another Jimmy Webb song, by the way) include these lines:

Here inside my paper cup

Everything is looking up
No one comes in, no one goes out
Nothin' to get hung up about 
I'm free and it's so easy to get by 
Cause I don't try.
Living ain't so bad without a rudder
Life is kind a groovy in the gutter.

Sound familiar? Forget old-world values like work, the integrity of family and tribe, morality, making something out of yourself, changing the world for the better. Instead, make the hippy mantra your reality -- “Turn on. Tune in. Drop out.”

But the lyric that particularly grabbed me yesterday morning was from “Up, Up and Away.” It goes, “The world’s a nicer place in my beautiful balloon; it wears a nicer face in my beautiful balloon.”

But the balloon ride doesn't make the world a nicer place. It, in fact, has nothing to do with the world. It's soaring above it, unconnected, uninvolved. And from the balloon one isn't even an effective observer. The spectacle is too distant. The aerial view doesn’t take in the broken-hearted young girl in her bedroom, the angry young thug in the prison cell, the fatherless child in the alley, the lonely widow leafing through the photo album, the worried mother in the doctor's waiting room.  No, the scene from the balloon takes in only color and general contour.  Hidden from sight is the trash and tragedy of real life.  That, no doubt, suggests a world with a “nicer face.” But it’s not the real world at all.

And, of course, even the exhilarating experience of flying through the air must end.  Alas, there is a limit for that beautiful balloon. It does go up and up...but it doesn't really go away. It must, governed as it is by a law of gravity that no amount of yearning can deny, come down to earth. The balloon ride doesn't make an efficient refuge from reality at all. A respite, yes. But not a refuge. For when the balloon inevitably returns, the passengers find themselves once again on the cold, cruel earth, facing all the problems, questions, and challenges they left behind.

But I'm not ending this essay on that note. Oh, no. For there was one more area of thought that the sight of that hot air balloon opened for me yesterday. And it also brought back to me the lyrics of a song, one that I knew long before I heard of the Fifth Dimension...though I must admit I didn't treasure the meaning of those lyrics until it was almost too late.

This song was written in 1929 by Oklahoma musician and hymn writer Albert E. Brumley. And it's lyrics not only describe the “final flight” of the Christian, one who has personally trusted the sacrifice Jesus made to pay for the sins of mankind, they also provide the secret to living joyfully and victoriously on the cold, cruel earth I've mentioned earlier. For though we must face the challenges the real world presents (no escape until our day is done), we do so in the confident expectation that a “nicer world” does exist for the believer in Christ. It is the "new heavens and new earth" prepared expressly for us by Jesus Himself.

The song, as some of you have already guessed, is the most recorded gospel song ever, “I’ll Fly Away.”

Some glad morning when this life is o'er, 
I'll fly away; 
To a home on God's celestial shore, 
I'll fly away.

I'll fly away, Oh glory 
I'll fly away.
When I die, Hallelujah, by and by, 
I'll fly away.

When the shadows of this life have gone, 
I'll fly away; 
Like a bird from prison bars has flown, 
I'll fly away.

Just a few more weary days and then, 
I'll fly away; 
To a land where joy shall never end, 
I'll fly away.

The hot air balloons Sherry awakened to us that Colorado morning were spectacular and I'll never forget the sight of them floating down the valley with the blue of the Rocky Mountains behind them. Nor will I forget the yearning they created in my soul for spiritual flight. But the trip I now have scheduled is not a disconnected, day-trip escape like the one the Fifth Dimension invited me on. I want the real thing. The lasting thing. The final flight that doesn't just take me “up, up and away” but instead takes me to God's celestial shore. Boy, I'm looking forward to it.

By the way, have you booked your flight yet?

Swinging with the July “When Swing Was King”

We had an especially delightful start to our July “When Swing Was King” schedule as Harold and Mary Dee Berry dropped into our first show of the month which was at Legacy Arbors in the Havelock area of north Lincoln. The Berrys then joined us for a late breakfast/early lunch at The Engine House just a few blocks away. As always, we had a super time with them -- what a terrific couple of God’s people!

And the “When Swing Was King” show? Well, I know I say this every month but…it is one of our very best! But don’t just take my word for it. You go through the song list below and see if you don’t agree. And, as you peruse these grand old songs, know that you too are always welcome to sit in on one of our shows. Just check out the Vital Signs Ministries website for each month’s schedule.

We always start the program with something from the Glenn Miller Orchestra and this month’s selection is a real honey; namely, the band’s theme song recorded in 1939, “Moonlight Serenade.” And then…

2) Benny Goodman Orchestra with Helen Ward as vocalist -- “You Turned the Tables on Me” (1936)

3) Lena Horne (backed by the Lou Bring Orchestra) -- “Where or When” (1948)

4) Frank Sinatra (backed by an Axel Stordahl studio band) -- “Begin the Beguine” (1945)

5) Russ Morgan Orchestra --“With the Wind and the Rain In Her Hair” (1940)

6) Artie Shaw Orchestra (Helen Forrest as vocalist) – “Deep Purple” (1938)

7) Lawrence Welk Orchestra (featuring Henry Cuesta on clarinet) -- “La Mer” (1976)

8) Vaughn Monroe Orchestra (with VM as vocalist too) -- “Red Roses for a Blue Lady” (1949)

9) Ray Anthony -- “This Love of Mine” (1956)

10) The Mills Brothers (featuring Tommy Dorsey on trombone!) --“Please Don’t Talk About Me (When I’m Gone)” (1951)

11) Harry James Orchestra -- “You’ll Never Know” (1943)

12) Roy Rogers -- “San Fernando Valley” (1944)

Like I said, the July “When Swing Was King” is one of our very song collections. And the photographs – absolutely terrific! So, we cordially invite you -- no, make that we enthusiastically invite you -- to see and hear for yourself the July “When Swing Was King.”

The Top 5 (July 6)

* "Were the Founders Deist? Here’s One Sure-Fire Piece of Evidence Against That Idea" (Tyler O'Neil, Daily Signal)

From the article -- Although some of America’s Founding Fathers were deists, rather than Christians, the United States owes a debt of gratitude to a Judeo-Christian moral framework that goes beyond mere deism—and the proof is in the Declaration of Independence itself. Deism refers to the belief that God created the world and endowed human beings with reason, but after that, he left the world alone to develop naturally. Deists prefer a largely absent God who just set things in motion and then stands back, hoping everyone has a good time.

The Declaration of Independence does not envision such a God, and the document could not have formed the cornerstone of the American Revolution without a firm declaration that God—not government—is the foundation of just rule.

* "1 In 5 Auto Accident Deaths Now Involves Marijuana Use" (Jefferey H. Anderson, Federalist)

From the article -- A recent study published in the American Journal of Public Health — and conducted by scholars at Boston Medical Center, Boston University, and the University of Victoria — found that the percentage of car crash deaths in America that involved marijuana has skyrocketed since 2000. The percentage of car crash deaths involving cannabis alone rose from 4.2 percent in 2000 to 11.2 percent in 2018. Over that same span, the percentage of car crash deaths involving cannabis and alcohol together rose from 4.8 to 10.3 percent. So the total percentage of car crash deaths involving cannabis, either with or without alcohol, rose from 9.0 percent in 2000 to 21.5 percent in 2018 — to more than a fifth of all car crash deaths in America.

Monitoring the Future, a survey funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse at the National Institutes of Health, finds that the percentage of those ages 19 to 30 who use marijuana on a daily basis rose from 3.8 percent in 2000 to 7.8 percent in 2018 — more than doubling. That closely tracks the rise in car crash deaths involving marijuana over that period. 

Those numbers, however, are only through 2018. From 2019 to 2022, deaths from drunk-driver car crashes rose a whopping 33 percent — from 10,142 in 2019 to 13,524 in 2022 (the most recent statistics available), according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Deaths from stoned driver car crashes likely increased even more, given that, unlike alcohol use (which hasn’t changed much), pot use has risen greatly over the past few years.

* "The devastating case against vaccine-pusher Pfizer" (Neville Hodgkinson, The Conservative Woman)

From the article -- WILL our world eventually realise the extent of the covid con trick to which we have been subjected over the past four years? While most UK authorities, including the mainstream media, are still maintaining silence on the disaster, the American legal system seems poised to break omerta around the issue.

Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach and another three of the state’s top legal officials have announced a lawsuit against Pfizer alleging misleading claims related to its covid vaccine. ‘Pfizer made multiple misleading statements to deceive the public about its vaccine at a time when Americans needed the truth,’ Kobach said. A similar action by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton remains pending, and several other states are becoming involved.

Pfizer says the lawsuits have no merit, and that its representations about the vaccine have been ‘accurate and science-based’. However, according to Dr Carl Heneghan, Professor of Evidence-based Medicine at Oxford University, the charge sheet against Pfizer, with the main points outlined here, is ‘devastating’.

* "The Diminishing Likelihood of a Fair Election" (Brian T. Kennedy, The American Mind)

From the article -- Regardless of who the nominees are in 2024, just as in 2020, much of America will hold their elections in the least transparent, most vulnerable method possible: absentee ballots. Because of this, a free and fair election cannot be assured. It matters not that President Trump is ahead in all the polls and in ways that some pollsters believe cannot be overcome. Citizens should expect that, since America is in a war with Communist China, November’s election will be the target of a massive intelligence operation to decide the next president.

It should be noted that America’s election system was not built to stop the Communist Chinese or any nation state, or for that matter any dark money group, with the capacity and the interest in deciding an American presidential election.

The United States is made vulnerable by being the only developed country in the world to allow for this wide-spread use of absentee ballots. Every other advanced democracy conducts their elections in person, with identification shown, on paper ballots counted by large groups of people transparently tallying vote totals with the results available the same day of the election. In states around America, Secretaries of State have allowed or been part of the development of elections systems that would appear to be designed to allow for fraud. So whether not an election is stolen, a free and fair election system has been stolen from the American people. 

* "Cowboy Role Models" (Denny Hartford, Vital Signs Blog)

From the article -- Mamas, you can go ahead and let your babies grow up to be cowboys…if, that is, they grow up following cowboy codes like the ones you’ll find below.

My sermon yesterday at Wellspring Church down in Papillion was entitled, “Let's Talk About Role Models” with the foundational text being 1 Corinthians 11: 1,2. And I introduced it with a story my Mom used to tell about me as a very young boy (before I could even read) asking her to give me my own Bible. The reason? I had just finished watching a TV episode of The Lone Ranger in which he solved a mystery by being remarkably familiar with a Scripture passage. And since one of my favorite heroes knew the Bible so well, I figured I’d do well to follow his example.

That’s a key difference between a mere hero and a role model. For the former can be “admired from afar” but the role model presents enough moral strength to influence a person’s behavior, priorities, even character. And don’t think those cinematic cowboys (and their producers, scriptwriters, and advertisers) weren’t well aware of how influential they could be. Indeed, back in the day, that influence was considered as something to be invested for a child’s good…and thus, the good of the culture.

Examples? Well, check out the following lists that I offered to church goers after the service. They are terrific moral codes that come from my 3 favorite cowboys.

Intelligent Design Creates the “Ultimate Skepticism”

Speaking of the Intelligent Design movement and the resulting cracks in the “great wall” of evolution, America’s most compelling novelist, the late Tom Wolfe writes...

“This, science’s Ultimate Skepticism, has been spreading ever since then. Over the past two years even Darwinism, a sacred tenet among American scientists for the past seventy years, has been beset by doubts. Scientists -- not religiosi -- notably the mathematician David Berlinski (‘The Deniable Darwin,’ Commentary, June 1996) and the biochemist Michael Behe (Darwin’s Black Box, 1996), have begun attacking Darwinism as a mere theory, not a scientific discovery, a theory woefully unsupported by fossil evidence and featuring, at the core of its logic, sheer mush.

Dennett and Dawkins, for whom Darwin is the Only Begotten, the Messiah, are already screaming. They’re beside themselves, utterly apoplectic. Wilson, the giant, keeping his cool, has remained above the battle.” (Tom Wolfe, “Sorry, But Your Soul Just Died,” first published in Orthodoxy Today, 1996)

Cowboy Role Models

Mamas, you can go ahead and let your babies grow up to be cowboys…if, that is, they grow up following cowboy codes like the ones you’ll find below.

My sermon yesterday at Wellspring Church down in Papillion was entitled, “Let's Talk About Role Models” with the foundational text being 1 Corinthians 11: 1,2. And I introduced it with a story my Mom used to tell about me as a very young boy (before I could even read) asking her to give me my own Bible. The reason? I had just finished watching a TV episode of The Lone Ranger in which he solved a mystery by being remarkably familiar with a Scripture passage. And since one of my favorite heroes knew the Bible so well, I figured I’d do well to follow his example.

That’s a key difference between a mere hero and a role model. For the former can be “admired from afar” but the role model presents enough moral strength to influence a person’s behavior, priorities, even character.

And don’t think those cinematic cowboys (and their producers, scriptwriters, and advertisers) weren’t well aware of how influential they could be. Indeed, back in the day, that influence was considered as something to be invested for a child’s good…and thus, the good of the culture.

Examples? Well, check out the following lists that I offered to church goers after the service. They are terrific moral codes that come from my 3 favorite cowboys.

“Ten Guidelines for Life” from Hopalong Cassidy

1) The highest badge of honor a person can wear is honesty. Be truthful at all times.

2) Your parents are the best friends you have. Listen to them and obey their instructions.

3) If you want to be respected, you must respect others. Show good manners in every way.

4) Only through hard work and study can you succeed. Don’t be lazy.

5) Your good deeds always come to light. So don’t boast or be a show-off.

6) If you waste time or money today, you will regret it tomorrow. Practice thrift in all ways.

7) Many animals are good and loyal companions. Be friendly and kind to them.

8) A strong, healthy body is a precious gift. Be neat and clean.

9) Our country’s laws are made for your protection. Observe them carefully.

10) Children in many foreign lands are less fortunate than you.

Be glad and proud you are an American.

Roy Rogers’ Rules (for a Life Well-Lived)

1) Be neat and clean

2) Be courteous and polite.

3) Always obey your parents.

4) Protect the weak and help them.

5) Be brave but never take chances.

6) Study hard and learn all you can.

7) Be kind to animals

and take care of them.

8) Eat all your food

and never waste any.

9) Love God and go to Sunday School regularly.

10) Always respect our flag and our country.

The Lone Ranger Creed

1) I believe that to have a friend, a man must be one.

2) That all men are created equal and that everyone has within himself the power to make this a better world.

3) That God put the firewood there, but that every man must gather and light it himself.

4) In being prepared physically, mentally, and morally to fight when necessary for that which is right.

5) That a man should make the most of what equipment he has.

6) That “this government, of the people, by the people, and for the people” shall live always.

7) That men should live by the rule of what is best for the greatest number.

8) That sooner or later – somewhere – somehow – we must settle with the world and make payment for what we have taken.

9) That all things change, but the truth, and the truth alone, lives on forever.

10) I believe in my Creator, my country, my fellow man.

Evolution: The Worst Pseudo-Science Scam of Them All

Throughout the month of July, I will be posting here on Vital Signs Blog various articles, quotations, and references to trustworthy sources dealing with the ethereal, though insistent, claims about evolution. I do so because evolution theories have had such an enormous effect on current culture – an effect that has been devastating to the max on everything from education to politics to art to religious practice to the gross hindrance of genuine scientific inquiry itself. 

So stay tuned.

For the first entry, here’s a nifty 10-minute video video exploring the remarkable lack of empirical foundations for what evolutionists insist is "one of their best" arguments. So, cmon; let's check out this "whale of a tale."

The Top 5 (June 29)

* "America Is In Shambles Because Of Democrat Policies, Not Just Joe Biden" (Kylee Griswold, Federalist)

From the article -- The jig is up. Here’s what disillusioned Democrats and independents and moderates need to know. What all the blue-state refugees who now live in Texas and Florida instead of California and New York City need to admit. What all the fed-up middle-class families and forgotten nonwhite voters in the suburbs need to remember: These aren’t just Joe Biden policies that are disastrous. They’re Democrat policies. 

Abortion. Economy. Crime. Immigration. Lawfare. Foreign policy. Health care. It doesn’t matter what pet issue has voters down in the dumps. Democrats are in lockstep on the losing side. And anywhere they aren’t in lockstep — like on whether Israel is a victim of terrorism or a group of oppressive “colonizers” — they tow the radical line.

You think a Democrat switcheroo is magically going to secure the border and end the unmitigated illegal alien crime wave?...The same goes for Democrats’ abortion radicalism...On and on it goes. The foreign policy, welfare, and subsidy and bailout spending that have helped drive up inflation over the past three-plus years are Democrat policies, not just Joe Biden policies. The soft-on-crime ideology, push for self-styled “progressive” district attorneys, and defund-the-police movement, among other perversions of justice, are again Democrat pet projects, not a Biden-unique quirk.

* "What I Saw at a Terrorist Rally Outside a Synagogue" (Daniel Greenfield, Gatestone Institute)

From the article -- LAPD officers did not stir as confrontations escalated into assaults, shoving into mace and bear spray. Jewish community members rushed to provide water bottles to the affected. Only after several such incidents did the LAPD finally bring in reinforcements and push the Hamas supporters away from the synagogue entrance (dispersing them to harass and threaten two other synagogues) while also clearing Jewish families away from the other side of the street who had been peacefully waving flags near a children's school.

The terrorist hate rally spread outside three synagogues, Congregation Adas Torah, Chabad Persian Youth, and Congregation Ateret Israel (Glory of Israel), and the confrontations in the center of the street continued. There were running battles along the large commercial street, with violent assaults outside a kosher luncheonette and running battles down a residential street in the Jewish neighborhood.

The terrorist hate rally was not an aberration, It's become the new normal.

* "‘A Complete Disservice’: SCOTUS Ruling Encourages Future Government Censorship, Experts Warn" (Ben Johnson, Washington Stand)

From the article -- The majority opinion will only encourage government to continue censoring speech via a third party, according to the 34-page dissent written by Justice Samuel Alito and joined by Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch. The court has a duty to uphold people’s unalienable rights but, by dodging the substantive issues at hand, it “shirks that duty and thus permits the successful campaign of coercion in this case to stand as an attractive model for future officials who want to control what the people say, hear, and think. That is regrettable.” While the Biden administration’s censorship campaign “was more subtle than the ham-handed censorship found to be unconstitutional” in previous Supreme Court cases, “it was no less coercive. And because of the perpetrators’ high positions, it was even more dangerous.”

“It was blatantly unconstitutional, and the country may come to regret the Court’s failure to say so. Officials who read today’s decision … will get the message. If a coercive campaign is carried out with enough sophistication, it may get by. That is not a message this Court should send,” wrote Justice Alito.

* "What to Do When Pope Francis Tells You Not to Pray the 'Rogue' Psalms" (Jules Gomes, The Stream)

From the article -- There are several problems with Francis’s exhortation. Who is to decide which verses are palatable and which are offensive? The Roman hierarchy has a track record of misinterpreting and suppressing the Scriptures. Most Catholic biblical scholars are embarrassed by this but honest enough to quietly set aside the grotesque errors of the past.

Rome refused to use the Bible’s Hebrew and Greek manuscripts for centuries, and banned biblical scholars from using scientific methods of criticism until the restrictions were lifted by Divino Afflante Spiritu in 1943. Only in the Nova Vulgata of 1979 did the Vatican correct the grotesque copyist’s error of Genesis 3:15: “she [Mary] shall crush your head” instead of “he [Jesus] shall crush your head.”

How odd that God should inspire the Psalter for pre-modern man and not for Francis’s “modern man,” who is presumably far more enlightened and has the luxury of sanitizing the Psalter according to Enlightenment sensibilities. Francis’s appeal to novelty (argumentum novitatis) is a logical fallacy.

Of course, in one sense, the Psalms reflect a historical context and a religious mentality that are no longer ours. This is true of the entire Bible. But Francis would be surprised how the “religious mentality” of the Psalter that he so breezily dismisses is still very much alive in non-Western cultures.

* "From Darwin to Orwell: How the global tyranny began" (Niall McCrae, TCW)

From the article -- Arguably the most important event in modern history was publication of On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin in 1859. This came at a convenient time for the ruling class. Darwin’s thesis had two radical implications: it undermined the accuracy of holy scripture, and removed the special status of human beings. Such departure from Christian teaching led to Social Darwinism, an offshoot of evolutionary theory based on the notion that philanthropic society was nurturing the weak (upending survival of the fittest).

The Industrial Revolution had created a vast and potentially unruly working class, who were beginning to gather strength through the labour movement and political representation. The upper class feared for their future. This was the context in which Darwin’s nephew Francis Galton founded the pseudoscientific endeavour of eugenics.

The quest to improve the quality of human stock took hold in the intelligentsia, medical profession and politicians. Notable in the  eugenics movement was the Fabian Society, which controlled the Labour Party. Fundamental to eugenics is state control over who should live or die, a philosophy brutally applied after the Bolshevik revolution imposed on the mostly peasant populace of holy Russia.

The Top 5 (June 22)

* "The Hidden Hurt behind Pride Month and Sexual Rebellion" (Suzanne Bowdey, Washington Stand)

From the article -- The reality, Pullman explains, is that “people who have unstable families where children are not growing up in the homes with their two biological married parents [are] much more likely to identify as queer. And then on the flip side,” she continues, that kind of family trauma can also express itself in “a lack of natural identity [that] God has given each of us as man and woman…” She goes on to say that these young people grow up to be much more likely to engage in “every sign of personal distress,” including crime, teen pregnancy, and LGBT identification.

So, the “sexual chaos that children are experiencing,” Joy says, is what she sees “as kind of a second-, third-generation consequence of our culture’s acceptance of feminism, no-fault divorce, and those other things. … And so all of these decisions that people are making absolutely affect each other.”

* "The media’s great awokening is alienating the masses: Audiences are fed up with newspapers, Hollywood and Big Tech all singing from the same woke hymn sheet." (Joel Kotkin, spiked!

From the article -- 

* "An Open Letter from Herta Muller" (A Nobel Prize winning writer has written a shocking wake-up call to the West regarding the madness that has gripped parts of Western society since Hamas attacked Israel. Published in Truth of the Middle East)

From the article -- That is why the whole country has been traumatized, because the founding of the state of Israel was intended to protect against such pogroms. And until October 7, it was believed to be protected. Although Hamas has been sitting on the state of Israel’s neck since 1987. The Hamas founding charter clearly stated that the destruction of the Jews was the goal, and that “death for God is our noblest wish”.

Even though there have been changes to this charter since then, it is clear that nothing has changed: the destruction of the Jews and the destruction of Israel remain the goal and desire of Hamas. This is exactly the same as in Iran. In the Islamic Republic of Iran, the destruction of the Jews has also been state doctrine since its foundation, that is, since 1979.

When talking about the terror of Hamas, Iran should always be included in the discussion. The same principles apply, which is why big brother Iran finances, arms and makes little brother Hamas its henchman. Both are merciless dictatorships. And we know that all dictators become more radical the longer they rule.

* "Supreme Court's decision on abortion drugs: A wake-up call for church leaders" (Josue Sierra, Christian Post)

From the article -- The fact remains that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has failed to abide by its legal obligations to protect the health, safety, and welfare of girls and women. Sadly, the ruling allows these dangerous drugs to remain widely accessible without proper medical oversight. This decision should challenge Christian pastors and church leaders to play a more active role in providing moral clarity, and educating and warning their congregations about the true danger and risks of abortion.

As Senior Counsel Erin Hawley of Alliance Defending Freedom notes, "The FDA recklessly leaves women and girls to take these high-risk drugs all alone in their homes or dorm rooms, without requiring the ongoing, in-person care of a doctor." The FDA's own label warns that approximately one in 25 women who take chemical abortion drugs will end up in the emergency room. This alarming statistic highlights the physical risks associated with these drugs and the need for increased awareness and support within our churches.

* "True and False Abortion History: It’s not true that abortion was unregulated in America before 1821." (John Grondelski, Human Life Review)

From the article -- As to Arizona’s “archaic” 1864 law, I would send readers to a far-too-neglected masterpiece of legal reasoning: then-Justice William Rehnquist’s dissent in Roe v. Wade. Roe was decided in 1973 by a 7-2 vote; Justices Byron White and Rehnquist dissented. White’s dissent is much better known for its memorable phrase that the ruling was “an exercise of raw judicial power.”

Rehnquist’s dissent, less quoted, is a masterpiece of historical research. Although the Supreme Court in Roe could not decide for sure just where in the Constitution the “right to abortion” was to be found, one of the preferred candidates was the 14th Amendment and its “due process” clause. That amendment was ratified in 1868, when most states had enacted laws protecting the unborn against abortion. Twenty-eight states were required to ratify the 14th Amendment; as Rehnquist shows, 36 states had anti-abortion laws on the books, a considerable number of them — including Arizona (then a territory) — in the 15 years before the 14th Amendment.

Why is that important? Well, if the 14th Amendment grounds the “right to abortion,” how is it that nobody — not in Congress, not in the 28+ state legislatures that ratified it — ever suggested the Amendment had anything to do with abortion, much less required it to be legal? Many of those states were also enacting pro-life laws in that era, so it’s not that the question was forgotten. The same Congress that passed the 14th Amendment even passed some abortion restrictions for the territories.

* "The tragedy of Net Zero for the world’s poor." (David Wright, The Conservative Woman)

From the article -- IT HAS been calculated that the West spends half a trillion dollars a year on the futile attempt to ameliorate the non-existent effects of the global warming catastrophe hoax. I suspect that it is considerably more than that. Meanwhile all the world’s poor live shorter lives, struggle to put even basic food on the table, cook on open fires of wood and dung inside their homes where they inhale the smoke, walk miles to fill buckets with water to wash and drink and after sunset live in the dark with no electric lights. All this without even considering the availability of medical care which we take for granted and so often abuse.

In Africa alone almost half a billion people live in abject poverty. Add to these the slum-dwellers of India, Bangladesh and many South American countries and a picture emerges of intolerable living conditions in the 21st century for a large percentage of mankind. Many of us, nay, most of the rest of us, are unaware how awful this is and blissfully enjoy the comfortable, plentiful lives we lead.

The Net Zero zealots are certainly fully aware of this but they don’t care that Net Zero will prolong this situation, probably for ever. At least one group of green nutters has actually admitted this.

The Top 5 (June 15)

* "One in three female voters wants a party to win her vote on abortion" (Matt Lamb, Human Life Review)

From the article -- Among female registered voters, 22% say they do not trust either candidate on abortion, while 13% are “not sure.” An almost equal amount (34%) have trust issues with both political parties on abortion.

This shows an opening for pro-life candidates and the Republican Party. The Democratic Party is clear on its position: legalize abortion through the moment of birth, mail abortion drugs across the country and hand them out at Walgreens, and force taxpayers to support the killing of preborn babies. Democrats also want pregnancy resource centers closed.

Republicans have been a bit murkier on their plans, with some favoring a national abortion ban, some wanting the issue left up to the states, and some probably not wanting to talk about the issue at all.

But the fact the Democrats have not won over one in three female voters with their position shows there is room for pro-lifers to shift the Overton Window and get voters to support the party that is more opposed to abortion."

* "Stemming the Tide: Denny Speaks to the Nebraska Abortion Ballot Controversy" (Denny Hartford, Vital Signs Blog)

From the article -- "And yes, just such a constitutional amendment is being advocated even now for Nebraska. It is called the Protect Our Rights amendment and it is enthusiastically and financially backed by the mega-abortion profiteer Planned Parenthood, the Nebraska chapter of the ACLU, and other groups and individuals representing the most extreme of the anti-life ideologies. Their goals are clear. Among them ? No limits whatsoever (not even health and safety regulations) on abortion. No laws to protect preborn boys and girls even from late term destruction. No informed consent. No parental consent -- not even parental notification. Zero accountability for abortionists. Yet more tax funding of abortionist businesses. (Planned Parenthood alone rakes in hundreds of millions from the government every year.) The denial of conscience clauses which would thus require pro-life medical personnel to participate in abortions. And the aggressive prohibition of such historic freedoms as speech and assembly when they involve pro-life sidewalk counselors, public rallies, and even pregnancy aid centers.

Exposing the horrible effects of this wildly radical abortion amendment must be the Christian’s most urgent and critical response. And I cannot emphasize this too strongly."

* "The chilling rise of the Hamas red triangle: Anti-Israel bigots have adopted the terror group’s propaganda symbol to threaten and intimidate Jews." (Daniel Ben-Ami, spiked!)

From the article -- "This attack on the homes of Pasternak and other board members comes on the back of countless other anti-Semitic incidents in New York, the city with the largest Jewish population in the world. These include a keffiyeh-sporting mob on a subway carriage chanting ‘Raise your hands if you’re a Zionist – this is your chance to get out’; protesters shouting ‘Israel go to hell’ outside an exhibition memorialising those slaughtered by Hamas at the Nova music festival; and the long-running anti-Israel protests at Columbia University. No wonder one leading Jewish magazine is asking whether New York is over for Jews.

The use of the inverted red triangle to target Pasternak’s home is particularly chilling. This symbol is directed at anyone deemed to be pro-Israel or who does not explicitly condemn the Jewish State."

* "The West Is Sick of the New Woke Jihadism" (Victor Davis Hanson, Daily Signal)

From the article -- "So woke jihadism is not an ecumenical concern for the oppressed, the occupied, the collateral damage of war, or the fate of refugees. Instead, it is a romanticized and repackaged anti-Western, anti-Israel, and antisemitic jihadism that supports the murder of civilians, mass rape, torture, and hostage-taking.

But what makes it now so insidious is its new tripartite constituency."

* "Unequal Application Of The Law In America Today Isn’t Hypocrisy, It’s Hierarchy" (John Daniel Davidson, Federalist)

From the article -- "As tempting as it is to call out the hypocrisy here — teenagers hunted down and charged for defacing a pride mural, no punishment at all for a mob of left-wing protesters defacing national monuments — that would miss the point. This isn’t hypocrisy on display, it’s hierarchy.

When you see harsh punishments for those who dissent from the regime on the one hand, but total leniency (and tacit regime endorsement) for those who are essentially regime enforcers on the other hand, what you’re seeing is a display of power. Its purpose is to communicate to the rest of the country who has power and who doesn’t, who is protected and who isn’t."

Stemming the Tide: Denny Speaks to the Nebraska Abortion Ballot Controversy

In the summer of 2022, there was great rejoicing among American Christians at the long-prayed for move of the Supreme Court to reverse 1973’s horrific Roe v Wade decision that had so twisted law, science, history, and civilized moral standards to unleash the “silent holocaust” of abortion upon preborn boys and girls. As the decades of “legalized” child-murder wore on -- legalized” but always abominable to God -- Christians had almost given up hope of ever seeing their prayers answered regarding Roe’s fall.

And yet, in the matchless grace of God, He gifted our nation with the Dobbs decision. And by so doing, God gave America one last chance to repent of the blasphemy and blood guilt, the cowardice and compromise, and the appeasing apathy that had allowed those many millions to die such a cruel and unjust death.

But what, in fact, has happened in the days since Dobbs? Well, it is a great tragedy to admit, but while Christians breathed a sigh of relief and accepted the Court’s decision as a victory, the devil took it as an opportunity -- an opportunity to push his gruesome abortion agenda even further. The media, long adamantly pro-abortion, started howling. Politicians at the highest levels of the present administration openly vowed to break the law in order to protect abortion. And the abortion industry itself, though depending more and more on chemical poisons to terminate the lives of preborn kids, nevertheless trebled its efforts to eliminate any and all restrictions on surgical abortions. 

In 7 states so far, extremist abortion measures have been enacted. That's right; the pro-life side has lost all 7 times! The ultimate outcome? Abortions without restrictions, without limitations, without conscience clauses to protect people who want no part of participating in what they believe to be a terribly immoral act. No common-sense regulation of abortionists whatsoever. The moral landscape will be far worse than even under Roe.

And yes, just such a constitutional amendment is being advocated even now for Nebraska. It is called the Protect Our Rights amendment and it is enthusiastically and financially backed by the mega-abortion profiteer Planned Parenthood, the Nebraska chapter of the ACLU, and other groups and individuals representing the most extreme of the anti-life ideologies. Their goals are clear. Among them ? No limits whatsoever (not even health and safety regulations) on abortion. No laws to protect preborn boys and girls even from late term destruction. No informed consent. No parental consent -- not even parental notification. Zero accountability for abortionists. Yet more tax funding of abortionist businesses. (Planned Parenthood alone rakes in hundreds of millions from the government every year.) The denial of conscience clauses which would thus require pro-life medical personnel to participate in abortions. And the aggressive prohibition of such historic freedoms as speech and assembly when they involve pro-life sidewalk counselors, public rallies, and even pregnancy aid centers.

Exposing the horrible effects of this wildly radical abortion amendment must be the Christian’s most urgent and critical response. And I cannot emphasize this too strongly. 

However, a statewide coalition of medical professionals and organizations who are long- standing champions of the sanctity of life -- organizations including Nebraska Right to Life, Nebraska Family Alliance, Students for the Life of America, Alliance Defending Freedom, several pro-life advocates associated with the Nebraska Catholic Conference, and others -- have pursued an additional strategy to keep Nebraska from falling into the same tragic abortion column as the other states I mentioned. These pro-life veterans conducted comprehensive and remarkably in-depth research into the opinions of Nebraska voters in order to determine the very best strategy to protect the pro-life gains earned in the Unicameral thus far as well as setting a foundation for ongoing protections of women and pre-born boys and girls in our state. 

The result? They created their own ballot initiative to counteract the Planned Parenthood one. It is called the Protect Women and Children Nebraska amendment and it reads, “Except when a woman seeks an abortion necessitated by a medical emergency or when the pregnancy results from sexual assault or incest, unborn children shall be protected from abortion in the second and third trimesters.”

Now, of course, this doesn’t represent the ideal for which all pro-lifers pray and work (namely, the protection by both law and social practice of all preborn boys and girls). However, it seeks to save the most lives possible given the unavoidable political realities we currently face. This amendment has been criticized by a small number in the pro-life community because it honestly addresses the current opinions of Nebraska voters on abortion-related subjects. And despite the experience, depth of conviction, and proven integrity of the pro-life champions who crafted the Protect Women and Children Nebraska amendment, some have criticized it as an unacceptable compromise. Some have even impugned the motives and character of the pro-life leaders who crafted the amendment and those in the general community who support it.  But please realize (and I say this as a pro-life veteran of over 40 years) that such charges are base, unwarranted, and extremely counter-productive. 

Remember, the Protect Women and Children Nebraska amendment was carefully, prayerfully formed by pro-life leaders who, first of all, did the research into what is most likely to be accepted by Nebraska voters, and secondly, who have years of hard-fought experience in doing the best job possible in promoting the sanctity of human life in the trying, tumultuous arena which is the Nebraska Unicameral -- a convoluted legislative body at best and one where Ernie Chambers is likely to return in its next session.

Let’s face it; pro-life advocates who have had to work in the complex, confrontational cloud of modern politics have, for over 50 years, been required to work incrementally. That is to say, they strive to get the very most they can in pro-life legislation, to save what babies’ lives they can, to enlighten the general public as best they can, and to create precedents to fight for yet further protection of women and pre-born kids in the next battles. To call such people names, to deny the sincerity of their pro-life conviction, or in any other way, to belittle their valor and perseverance in their championing the sanctity of life over these long, hard decades is terribly foolish and wrong. 

And don’t miss a very relevant reality. The Protect Women and Children Nebraska amendment would provide not only a safeguard for the legislative gains pro-life advocates have made in the last several years; it would also provide a foundation for us to go further in the months and years ahead. Indeed, contrary to the harshest criticisms, this amendment does NOT prevent future pro-life legislation, including a “heartbeat bill” or limitations (even prohibitions) of abortion drugs. Thus, the combination of protecting the ground we’ve gained thus far PLUS securing the opportunity of making new advances in the future is why such august bodies as Nebraska Right to Life and the other statewide pro-life groups I mentioned support it. Again, they know all too well that the amendment provides only an incremental step towards the protection of all human life. But it is NOT a surrender nor is it even a permanent compromise. It is simply a move to stop the enemy’s accelerating momentum, to defend the gains thus far achieved, and to set a foundation for future campaigns. 

But there is yet another player that has come onto the field -- a pro-life amendment entitled Choose Life Now.  Its purpose is noble and very ambitious; namely, protecting the right-to-life of preborn children in Nebraska. All preborn children. And right now. Dismissing the incremental approach altogether, this amendment is absolutist in its language. It reads, “A preborn child at every stage of development is a person. Wherever under Nebraska law the term ‘person’ is used or implied, it shall include such a child.”

The organizers of this effort have started pretty late in the game. Plus, they do not have the kind of statewide support system that has been established over the years by the groups backing the Protect Women and Children Nebraska amendment. Therefore, even the organizers of this third abortion-related amendment admit they have a difficult task to even get on the ballot. And if they do succeed in that effort, the job of persuading enough Nebraska voters to accept the uncompromising language of the Choose Life Now amendment will be extremely tough. Nevertheless, the pro-life advocates behind this amendment are giving it their best efforts and their impassioned prayers. For just like those who support the Protect Women and Children Nebraska amendment, they too want to save lives, serve women and families, and rebuild a culture of life in Nebraska. 

And that brings me to my closing remarks. Do I believe the Planned Parenthood-backed amendment is a horror of immeasurable danger? Yes, without a doubt. Therefore, it is to be fought by our most dedicated (and unified) prayers, public education, and principled advocacy. 

Do I believe that Christians can in good conscience sign and/or support either of the two pro-life amendments? Yes, I do. 

But, after a lot of prayers, a lot of conversation with pro-life colleagues, and sitting on our deck thinking through the options before us, Claire and I will be concentrating our efforts this summer and fall in exposing the pro-abortion amendment for what it is and the draconian evils it would unleash. That was our focus before either of the pro-life ballot initiatives were announced and that will remain the case. We hope you agree that is the most critical task before us.

Nonetheless, Claire and I have both signed the petition to put the Protect Women and Children Nebraska amendment on the Nebraska ballot this fall. Our decision to do so reflects our deep respect and trust in the pro-life champions that have, after such in-depth research and consultation with pro-life leaders across the United States, created the amendment. We believe that, in addition to an all-out effort to persuade Nebraskans to pray, work, and vote against the unspeakably shameful pro-abortion amendment, the Protect Women and Children Nebraska amendment is the best way to defeat the evil intents of those who want ever-more deaths by abortion.

And one final word. Please do not allow the enemy to divide the pro-life community into camps. Do not allow yourself to yield to self-righteousness, pride, a competitive spirit, rash and/or unfair judgments, impatience, or unkindness in your efforts to do the Lord’s work in this critical campaign.  And do what you can to oppose those mean-spirited things when you see them in others. God forbid that we surrender this perspective in these oh-so-trying days.