The Top 5 (October 12)

* "Vote FOR 434 & Vote AGAINST 439" (Denny Hartford, Vital Signs Blog)

From the release: "“The immediate purpose of Nebraska Initiative 434 is to protect girls, women, and preborn children from the exploitation and lethal violence of abortion with the secondary effects helping to build a stronger culture of life, love, and justice in our state. On the other hand, Initiative 439 is a truly draconian measure which would eliminate every pro-life law ever passed by the Nebraska Legislature. That would include the compassionate and common-sense laws that prohibit late term abortions, require minors to inform parents of a pending abortion, require women to be fully informed about the realities and risks of abortion, and so on. 

Indeed, if 439 were to become part of the Nebraska Constitution, there would be no restraint whatsoever (not even regulation) on abortion businesses, making it immeasurably unsafe for girls and women and babies. No, Initiative 439 is not designed to help women at all; it is merely a bold attempt by the abortion profiteers to increase still further their extremely lucrative businesses. Therefore, I strongly urge my fellow Nebraskans to vote FOR Initiative 434 and to vote AGAINST Initiative 439."

* "Harris And Biden Don’t Value American Lives, So Neither Should Be President" (Beth Brelje, Federalist)

From the article -- While campaign commercials for Kamala Harris scream that states are banning abortion and that access to the deadly procedure is at risk without Harris at the helm, the US saw, in 2023, the most abortions in a decade: an estimated 1,037,000 in the formal health care system. It’s an 11 percent increase since 2020, the last year estimates were available, according to the Guttmacher Institute, which tracks abortion data.

That is enough babies to fill the University of Michigan’s “Big House” football stadium 10 times.

Abortion is big business, and politicians who pledge to keep the abortion racket thriving get huge campaign donations. They can afford it. The nonprofit Planned Parenthood Federation of America showed more than a half billion dollars in gross receipts in 2023. President and CEO Alexis McGill Johnson earned nearly $584,000 that year, outpacing the $400,000 annual salary of the U.S. president. With so much money on the line, the idea of making abortion safe and rare is not the goal anymore. Killing the unborn is profitable, and it shows in the tone Harris uses when defending the grisly practice.

* "To the 41 Million Christians ‘Unlikely’ to Vote This November: ‘You Need to Repent’" (Suzanne Bowdey, Washington Stand)

From the article -- According to some truly shocking statistics from George Barna at Arizona Christian University (ACU), as many as 41 million Christians plan to sit this election out — more than enough to hand the country’s keys to the eager and radical Left. For Donald Trump’s opponent, the news that one of the Dems’ biggest obstacles to victory is voluntarily shirking their civic duty is cause for premature celebration.

Incredibly, the research, conducted between August and September, suggests that 41 million self-described born-again Christians are “unlikely” to vote in the November election. To Len Munsil, president of ACU, that spells disaster. “I see two huge takeaways from this blockbuster report,” he explained. “First, that Christians could be the deciding factor in a bunch of federal and state races — and are choosing not to be. And second,” he continued, “that they are longing for their local church to instruct them on how to think biblically about policy and politics. They don’t want to be told how to vote,” Munsil added, “but they do want to know why they should vote and how to view political issues from a biblical framework.”

* "David Horowitz: Political War" (Scott Johnson, Power Line)

From the article -- Democrats criminalize arguments and facts they can’t answer by calling them “disinformation.” In a campaign worthy of the KGB, the Democrat Secretary of State suborned 51 top intelligence officials including the former head of the CIA to sign a letter calling Hunter Biden’s treasonous lap top “Russian disinformation” right before the 2020 election. This behavior is not just about winning elections, which it was and would be bad enough. It’s about betraying your country and fellow countrymen.

Republicans are rightly alarmed that the Democrats have destroyed America’s borders, let in an estimated 20 million unvetted individuals including hundreds of thousands of convicted criminals, virtually all from countries and continents ruled by corrupt dictators and fanatic terrorists. They are shocked by the Democrats’ determination to give these illegal aliens the right to vote along with more goods and privileges than the indigenous population.

But they are tongue-tied when it comes to calling these policies what they are: criminal and treasonous attacks on our country and its Constitution. Joe Biden had no legal authority to change America’s immigration policies by executive order. Immigration policy is the purview of the legislative branch of government not the destructive schemes of one demented executive. Destroying the border is the greatest crime committed against America in its 237-year history. It is not a run of the mill policy difference.

* "The Long Road to Freedom for Jack Phillips" (Editors, National Review)

From the article -- Few living Americans have stood longer against government persecution for their freedoms than Colorado baker Jack Phillips. He has been repeatedly targeted under Colorado anti-discrimination law for adhering to his Christian faith. At long last, his third legal saga is over after the Colorado supreme court on Tuesday rejected the latest lawsuit against him on procedural grounds. After twelve years, Phillips is free of the courts. We can only hope he stays free — and that his fellow citizens will, too.

Vote FOR 434 & Vote AGAINST 439

October 10, 2024

From: Denny Hartford, Director of Vital Signs Ministries

To: All Interested Parties

For Immediate Release:

Vital Signs Ministries has joined Nebraska Right to Life, the Nebraska Catholic Conference, Nebraska Family Alliance, Students for the Life of America, and other pro-life organizations of longstanding in publicly opposing the zealously pro-abortion Initiative 439 which will be on the Nebraska ballot this election. And, along with their colleagues, Vital Signs Ministries is asking Nebraska voters to protect the pro-life gains that have been made through legislation in our state over the years by voting FOR Initiative 434.

In the case of 434, the laws passed thus far in Nebraska to protect preborn boys and girls, to protect girls and women from the violence of abortion, and to try to uphold the ideals of Western civilization regarding a just defense for and compassionate care to the innocent and vulnerable, would stay a part of Nebraska law. And a vote for Initiative 434 would also allow the citizens of Nebraska to persuade the Nebraska legislature to enact more pro-life protections in the future.

Standing against the progress of these just and humane laws, however, is Initiative 439 which will also be on the ballot. And if 439 were to be voted into the state’s constitution, every single pro-life law passed over the decades would no longer apply. 434 denies any limitations on abortion at all, including even regulations regarding health, sanitary conditions, safety, qualifications of abortion practitioners, age, involvement of parents, and so on. It is extreme almost beyond imagination. 

The following remarks are from Vital Signs Ministries Director Denny Hartford --

“The immediate purpose of Nebraska Initiative 434 is to protect girls, women, and preborn children from the exploitation and lethal violence of abortion with the secondary effects helping to build a stronger culture of life, love, and justice in our state. On the other hand, Initiative 439 is a truly draconian measure which would eliminate every pro-life law ever passed by the Nebraska Legislature. That would include the compassionate and common-sense laws that prohibit late term abortions, require minors to inform parents of a pending abortion, require women to be fully informed about the realities and risks of abortion, and so on. 

Indeed, if 439 were to become part of the Nebraska Constitution, there would be no restraint whatsoever (not even regulation) on abortion businesses, making it immeasurably unsafe for girls and women and babies. No, Initiative 439 is not designed to help women at all; it is merely a bold attempt by the abortion profiteers to increase still further their extremely lucrative businesses. Therefore, I strongly urge my fellow Nebraskans to vote FOR Initiative 434 and to vote AGAINST Initiative 439.”

For further information, feel free to contact Denny Hartford at (402) 341-8886 or dennyhartford@gmail.com

The October LifeSharer is a WOW Read!

 Oh, my! What a September it was for Vital Signs Ministries!

The photo-adorned October LifeSharer letter
from Vital Signs Ministries is out...and up! 
So check out the momentous ministries of September right here.

The Top 5 (Plus) for October 5

* "DHS: FEMA Does Not Have Funds to Make It Through Hurricane Season, $640M Allotted for Illegal Immigrants" (Hannak Knudsen, Breitbart)

From the article -- Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said FEMA does not have the funds to make it through the remainder of hurricane season, yet $640 million has been allotted to DHS specifically for issues related to illegal immigrants. “We are meeting the immediate needs with the money that we have. We are expecting another hurricane hitting. We do not have the funds — FEMA does not have the funds — to make it through the season,” Mayorkas revealed.

This is problematic, as hurricane season does not end until November 30. According to Fox News’s Chad Pergram, “Congress made sure FEMA had more than $20 billion in last week’s emergency spending bill ahead of the storm, but last year, Congress awarded DHS $640 million to help communities provide shelter and aid to people in the country illegally.”

* "How To Blow up the Middle East War in Five Easy Steps" (Victor Davis Hanson, Real Clear Politics)

From the article -- Second, Biden-Harris nihilistically killed off the Trump administration's "Abraham Accords." That diplomatic breakthrough had proven a successful blueprint for moderate Arab nations to seek detente with Israel, ending decades of hostilities to unite against the common Middle East threat of Iran.

Third, Biden begged Iran to reenter the appeasing, so-called Iran Deal that virtually had ensured that Iran would eventually get the bomb. Worse yet, it dropped oil sanctions against the theocracy, allowing a near-destitute Iran to recoup $100 billion in profits. And it greenlighted $6 billion in hostage ransoms to Tehran. An enriched Tehran immediately sent billions of dollars in support and weapons to the anti-Western terrorists of Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis to attack Israel, Americans, and international shipping. Iran soon began partnering with China and Russia to form a new anti-American axis.

Biden-Harris also fled abruptly from Afghanistan, abandoning billions in weapons and American contractors. The humiliation thus virtually destroyed American deterrence in the Middle East, inciting enemies and endangering friends.

* "9 Ways Harris and Walz Built Their Campaign on Misinformation and Disinformation" (Ben Johnson, Washington Stand)

From the article -- More than any time in history, the Democratic Party has spent the last eight years warning that politics runs the risk of being contaminated by the foul specter of “misinformation and disinformation.” Anyone conversant with politics knows “misinformation and disinformation” have long been synonymous with political campaigns from candidates of all backgrounds, but the Harris-Walz campaign wants to criminalize political differences.

In 2019, then-presidential candidate Kamala Harris promised the NAACP that she will “hold social media platforms accountable” if they “act as a megaphone for misinformation.” But if she did that, Harris might turn her own campaign into a federal case. She has frequently been guilty of what the head of her proposed federal disinformation board, Nina Jankowicz, called “information laundering”: repeating lies in a prominent political or media outlet. As we have noted, ABC News moderators let at least 10 Kamala Harris lies slide at her (apparently only) debate with Donald Trump on September 10, many of which she had made in her acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention and some of which the party had enshrined in the 2024 Democratic Party platform. Here are a few more...

* "Convicted criminal migrant deportations have decreased 74% under Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, damning new figures reveal" (Charlie Spiering, Daily Mail)

From the article -- President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are deporting far fewer illegal aliens even as border crossings are at an all-time high as revealed by shocking new data exclusively obtained by DailyMail.com. The number of criminal illegal aliens removed from the United States has fallen 74 percent under the Biden-Harris administration, according to public numbers compiled by the National Immigration Center for Enforcement first provided to DailyMail.com. 

Only 134,617 convicted criminal aliens were removed over the last three fiscal years under the Biden-Harris administration even as a flood of migrants continue making their way across the borders. U.S. Customs and Border Protection numbers show more than 10.3 million encounters with migrants on America's borders during the first three years of the Biden-Harris administration, not including the estimated over 2 million migrants eluding border patrol agents.

The numbers pose a problem for Harris, once dubbed as the 'border czar' after President Biden appointed her as a lead figure to handle the root causes of migration and lead messaging on the border crisis. 

And for something a little different...

* "A Colorado Conversion Story" (In this 6-minute video, Denny Hartford gives a brief testimony of his conversion to Christianity through the ministry of Young Life way, way back in the day.)

And for those who want even more, you might pursue these alarmingly informative articles:

* "Are We Too Dumb to Survive?" (John Hinderaker, Power Line)

* "Why the slow collapse of Harris-Walz won't stop before Election Day" (Victor Davis Hanson, Fox News)

* "Melania’s Abortion Support Further Discourages Pro-Life Votes For Trump" (Aubrey Gulick, Federalist)

* "America's Disorder Problem" (Charles Fain Lehman, Washington Free Beacon)

* "What Happened to Tucker Carlson?" (John McCormack, The Dispatch)

* "‘Fact check’ has become just another word for censorship" (Douglas Murray, New York Post)

A Colorado Conversion Story

Denny Hartford gives a brief testimony of his conversion to Christianity through the ministry of Young Life way, way back in the day.

 

Francis Schaeffer on Cool vs Hot Communication

“According to Marshal McLuhan in the theory of communication, hot communication is communication that has content, that speaks to men and moves men through the mind on the basis of that content. Cool communication is a kind of personal first-order-experience where in one is moved but without any content passing through his mind, his reason…

It is therefore necessary for the true Christians in the church to oppose Mcluhanesque ‘cool’ communication employed by the liberal theologians with the ‘hot’ communication of theological and biblical content…

We believe in the hot communication of content and as our age cools off more and more in its communication, as content is played down and reason is plowed under, I believe the historic Christian faith must more and more emphasize content, content, content, and then more content.”

(Francis Schaeffer, The Church Before the Watching World)

“Keep Your Hands Off It” -- Sherlock Holmes and the Suicide

“The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger” is a very unusual Sherlock Holmes story.  The shortest of all the Holmes short stories and written quite late in the “canon” (February 1927, the 54th of the 56 Holmes short stories), Conan Doyle uses it to illustrate Holmes’ moral convictions rather than his intellectual skills.  Indeed, in “The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger,” Holmes solves no mystery, foils no villains, and displays none at all of the fantastic deductive powers which provide the theme for all of the other stories and novels.  No, the qualities Doyle shows off in this tale are Holmes’ profound compassion, empathy, and a religiously-based sanctity of life ethic.

Yes, it’s true.  Though Sherlock Holmes’ reputation may be that of a proud, socially-detached, scientific-minded thinker who has little to do with formal religious practices, careful readers know of numerous indications that the great detective is not at all antagonistic to a belief in God.  For instance, there are several allusions to God in the “canon” including Holmes’ reference to his survival at the Reichenbach Falls as “the blessing of God,” his knowledge of the Old Testament narrative of David’s murder of Uriah as being in either 1st or 2nd Samuel, his description of the Great War as “God’s own wind none the less,” his reference to Ecclesiastes 10:8 in “The Speckled Band,” and the mention in “The ‘Gloria Scott’” about a dog biting his ankle when he “went down to chapel.”

Of related interest is that there was only one client for whom Holmes served twice; namely, Pope Leo XIII in “the little affair of the Vatican cameos” and “the sudden death of Cardinal Tosca.”

There are also quite moving passages in which Sherlock Holmes shows his belief in God to be more aligned with biblical revelation than with the detached deism held by turn-of-the-century freethinkers.  Examples? The God Who Holmes believes in is a God of wisdom and justice.  In “The Boscombe Valley Mystery,” Holmes tells a terminally-ill murderer, “It is not for me to judge you.  You will soon answer for your deed at a higher court than the Assizes.”  And in “The Adventure of the Red Circle,” the detective describes human life as “a series of lessons with the greatest as the last.”

There is also the very moving passage in “The Naval Treaty” where the scientific sleuth recognizes and appreciates the wisdom and grace of a personal God as revealed in His gifts of creative beauty.  Suddenly affected by the fragile beauty of a little flower, Watson records Holmes stopping in the middle of a conversation to say, “‘What a lovely thing a rose is!’ [Holmes] walked past the couch to the open window, and held up the drooping stalk of a moss-rose, looking down at the dainty blend of crimson and green. It was a new phase of his character to me, for I had never before seen him show any keen interest in natural objects.

‘There is nothing in which deduction is so necessary as in religion’ said he, leaning with his back against the shutters. ‘It can be built up as an exact science by the reasoner. Our highest assurance of the goodness of Providence seems to me to rest in the flowers. All other things, our powers our desires, our food, are all really necessary for our existence in the first instance. But this rose is an extra. Its smell and its color are an embellishment of life, not a condition of it. It is only goodness which gives extras, and so I say again that we have much to hope from the flowers.’”

To be fair, one must also mention Sherlock Holmes’ admiration of Winwood Reade’s “Martyrdom of Man,” a secularist tract which was condemned as a most “irreligious work” by none other than William Gladstone.  Holmes’ religious views, one concludes, were neither consistent or thorough.  Nor were they guided by strict exegesis of the Scriptures. Still, Sherlock Holmes' passionate desire for a deeper, more enlightened understanding of a transcendent God is movingly portrayed in both “The Adventure of the Cardboard Box” and “The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger.”  Those two passages read as follows:

“What is the meaning of it, Watson? What object is served by this circle of misery and violence and fear? It must tend to some end, or else our universe is ruled by chance, which is unthinkable. But what end? There is the great standing perennial problem to which human reason is as far from an answer as ever.”

And, “The ways of fate are indeed hard to understand. If there is not some compensation hereafter, then the world is a cruel jest.”

These two passages are quite moving, expressing an enigma commonly faced even by convinced Christian believers. They are not the mocking complaints of a skeptic but rather honest evaluations of the anxious problem of suffering and evil…evaluations which are yet founded upon an optimistic trust in God’s enveloping goodness.

But finally, let me get to the matter of Holmes’ fervent belief in the sanctity of life, no doubt born of that same trust in God’s kind and just Providence as illustrated earlier. Here’s the situation — Holmes and Watson have met Eugenia Ronder, a young and once lovely circus performer who has been horribly disfigured by a lion. And again, the story has no mystery to be solved, no true adventure for the great detective to pursue. Indeed, Conan Doyle’s singular purpose for including it in the “canon” seems to be to dramatize (and thereby emphasize) a proscription against suicide by putting it in the voice of the overwhelmingly popular character of Sherlock Holmes.

In the concluding paragraphs of the story, Eugenia has opened up and told her tragic tale to Holmes and Watson. The detective then says:

“Well, well, it is of little consequence now. The case is closed.”

“Yes,” said the woman, “the case is closed.”

We had risen to go, but there was something in the woman's voice which arrested Holmes's attention. He turned swiftly upon her.

“Your life is not your own,” he said. “Keep your hands off it.”

“What use is it to anyone?”

“How can you tell? The example of patient suffering is in itself the most precious of all lessons to an impatient world.”

The woman's answer was a terrible one. She raised her veil and stepped forward into the light.

“I wonder if you would bear it,” she said.

It was horrible. No words can describe the framework of a face when the face itself is gone. Two living and beautiful brown eyes looking sadly out from that grisly ruin did but make the view more awful. Holmes held up his hand in a gesture of pity and protest, and together we left the room.

 Two days later, when I called upon my friend, he pointed with some pride to a small blue bottle upon his mantelpiece. I picked it up. There was a red poison label. A pleasant almondy odour rose when I opened it.

“Prussic acid?” said 1.

“Exactly. It came by post. ‘I send you my temptation. I will follow your advice.’ That was the message. I think, Watson, we can guess the name of the brave woman who sent it.”

Arthur Conan Doyle was a lapsed Catholic who eventually became involved in Freemasonry and the most extreme elements of spiritualism. Nevertheless, he himself and his character of Sherlock Holmes held a general worldview that had been instructed (though but weakly) by the Holy Scriptures, including the divine virtues of justice, compassion, appreciation of beauty, and faith in the rewards of an afterlife. And, before retiring Sherlock Holmes once and for all to his bee-keeping, Conan Doyle appears to have written one of his last Holmes stories in order to underscore another divine truth; that is, that human life, whatever its state or condition, is created by God and of infinite value to His purposes. It is to be cherished, protected, and promoted both for its inspirational value to others...and for its own sake.

A Sherlock Holmes story with a pro-life message? No doubt about it. And though it is perhaps surprising to the casual reader, to the devout Sherlockian, it is quite elementary.

"If You Take Away Religion, You Can't Hire Enough Police"

Clayton Christensen from the Harvard Business School talks about the foundational values to culture that religion provides.

The Top 5 (September 28)

* "Pastor Roundtable: What Is a Pastor’s Role in Politics?: Helping your church apply faith to the public square" (Lindsay Nicolet, Editorial Director of the ERLC of the Southern Baptists and Pastors Jon Nelson, Eric Costanzo, and Daniel Darling)

From the article --  It is not incidental that God has called American Christians to live in this time and country. Pastors can help people steward their citizenship in a way that is redemptive. This looks different depending on our callings. Some are called to run for office, work in policy organizations, or write and speak in public ways. Others are called to do more quiet and local actions.

All of us, however, are given the stewardship of living in this country and helping shape the policies and people who rule over us. So, a pastor must engage at the level of preaching, teaching, and equipping his people to live faithfully. 

We first must recognize that the gospel itself is inherently political. When the first-century Church gathered weekly to declare that Christ, not Caesar, is Lord, they were making a political statement. By the way we are called to live, there is no way to avoid politics in this sense. 

Pastors should prioritize preaching the Bible in a systematic, faithful way every week. It’s also helpful at times to have special series, whether from the pulpit or in classes, that address specific cultural issues. However, people should be able to tell the difference between “thus saith the Lord” and “thus saith the pastor.” 

* "Life on the Ballot" (Nebraska Family Alliance)

From the article -- Among the things that will logically follow if Measure 439 were to become Nebraska law?
1) Allow late-term abortion on babies who can feel pain in the
second and third trimesters.
2) Abortion throughout pregnancy: “Health” is determined solely by
the abortionist and can include non-medical factors such as
mental, spiritual, financial, or familial health.
3) Enable abusers and traffickers by eliminating parental notification
requirements.
4) “Without interference from the state” eliminates all laws
regulating the abortion industry, including women’s health and
safety requirements.
5) “Viability” is determined solely by the abortionist and would not
include any baby who may need “extraordinary medical measures,”
such as a stay in the NICU

* "America’s Military Can’t Endure Another Four Years Of Democrat Rule" (Shawn Fleetwood, Federalist)

From the article -- But what happens to America and the global security environment when the former’s greatest security system gets hijacked by Constitution-hating leftists? Unfortunately, it’s a question Americans are getting answers to in real time.

While largely ignored by corporate media, the House Armed Services Committee held a hearing late last week about a U.S. Army base designating several pro-life organizations as “terrorist groups.” Yes, you read that correctly. The Army instructed roughly 9,100 soldiers over a seven-year period that Operation Rescue and National Right to Life are entities affiliated with terrorism.

Lt. Gen. Patrick Matlock, the branch’s deputy chief of staff, told lawmakers the briefing materials were pulled after they were exposed, but declined to say whether the individual responsible for their creation has faced any disciplinary actions, according to the Military Times.

* "The Coming Strangulation of Free Speech" (Joel Kotkin, American Mind)

From the article -- Under Harris, the censorship regime would likely get even stronger. She has spoken openly about wanting to “censor misinformation and hate.” Already under Biden, there has been strong support for suppressing online dissent, even proposing to create a “disinformation” board. This likely would be used not only to cover COVID-related issues but also climate change, with the Biden Administration’s top climate adviser Gina McCarthy casting censorship as a “health issue.”

To be sure, the U.S. will have to get much worse to beat our erstwhile democratic allies’ abandonment of free speech; unlike the U.S., the U.K. has no First Amendment. Even as authoritarian regimes are expanding all around the world, notes Freedom House, other Western nations seem to be tilting toward greater restraints on free expression, with “hate speech” laws already surfacing in Scotland, Ireland, Australia, and Canada...

At the same time, similarly-minded progressives increasingly control what happens in our museums, while woke censors proliferate at large publishing firms on both sides of the Atlantic. Perhaps more remarkable, the journalistic profession itself, particularly at the elite level, largely follows a single orthodoxy that often defines its output. Although even in the past most reporters were not conservatives, the tilt today is extreme. By 2018, barely 7% of U.S. reporters identified as Republicans, and some 97% of all political donations from journalists went to Democrats.

* "The Democrats’ Joy Of Hating America" (I & I Editorial Board)

From the article -- The Democratic Party, Kamala Harris now its titular chief, unleashed illegal immigration after Donald Trump nearly closed the spigot. The lawlessness returned on Jan. 20, 2021, when the new president, Joe Biden, used executive orders to begin rolling back Trump’s border security policies. They were too successful for the left’s refined tastes, so Biden had to kill them.

Two months later, Biden named Harris “border czar,” which only encouraged illegal border crossings. During Biden’s first three years, an estimated 7.4 million illegal immigrants invaded the country, more than three times the number that crossed during Trump’s four years. There were also nearly 2 million “gotaways” who jumped the border in Biden’s first three years but weren’t caught.

The border crisis was not the product of incompetence. It was a matter of deliberate choice. Thomas Klingenstein, principal in the investment firm of Cohen, Klingenstein and the chairman of the Claremont Institute’s board of directors, laid this out four years ago when he said “the multicultural movement, which has taken over the Democratic party, is a revolutionary movement.” He was not talking about a “metaphorical revolution,”  but a real “revolution, an attempt to overthrow the American founding.”

And a bonus pick this weekend...

* "Rape is Resistance and Beepers are Genocide" (Daniel Greenfield, Gatestone Institute)

From the article -- Those same organizations [that condemned Israel's exploding pagers] and activists had nothing to say about the Hezbollah rocket attacks on Israeli towns and villages that turned tens of thousands of Jews into refugees in their own country...The Democrat political establishment can't seem to get around to condemning the Islamic groups attacking synagogues and marching through the streets praising the rape and murder of Jews.

Every Israeli tactic is illegitimate because the cause, a Jewish State, is illegitimate, but no Islamic tactic is ever truly illegitimate because its cause, replacing Israel with an Islamic state, is legitimate. The liberal anti-Israel establishment in D.C., human rights groups and the media have played a cynical game of focusing on Israel tactics as if they actually cared how Israel takes out terrorists, and as if there were any means of taking out terrorists that would win their approval.

So, You're Pregnant

 This very short clip is superb so check it out and pass it along. For passed along the line, who knows whose life it might significantly influence?

(By the way, my mega-thanks to the Canadian pro-life organization Choice42 for this terrific video.)

 

The Top 5 (September 21)

* "Yes, Democrats And Their Propaganda Media Support Late-Term Abortion And Infanticide" (Stella Morabito, Federalist)

From the article -- When Trump said he is against late-term abortion, Davis proceeded to “fact-check” him by claiming “there’s no state in this country where it’s legal to kill a baby after it’s born.” Ever since, media outlets from The Guardian to MSNBC have continued to issue “fact checks” and outraged opinion articles backing up Davis’ claim and denying Trump’s, calling it the “post-birth abortion lie” and claiming “there is no state in the US where it is ‘OK’ to kill a baby after it is born.”

First off, that’s disingenuous and false. Seven U.S. states allow abortion until birth, with no restrictions, and 14 allow it for the sake of the mother’s “health,” which can include mental health. In Minnesota, eight babies are recorded as being left to die outside the womb after failed abortions in just 2021 alone, until Gov. Tim Walz removed that reporting requirement. Minnesota is not the only state that fails to record or protect children left to die after birth in such circumstances.

Second, radical Democrats used to see a difference between abortion and infanticide. Third, and maybe even most importantly, this sheltering of Harris obscures the fact that Harris’ policy positions are clearly in line with Planned Parenthood’s hard push towards legalizing all forms of infanticide. It’s happening because of the support of the propaganda media.

* "Experts Predict Up to 2.7M Votes Will Be Cast by Illegal Immigrants" (Ben Johnson, Daily Signal)

From the article -- Do you plan to vote this November? You’re not alone. Experts say somewhere between 1.5 million and 2.7 million illegal immigrants are likely to cast a ballot in the 2024 elections, affecting races from dogcatcher to president of the United States.

The historic flood of illegal immigrants during the Biden-Harris administration has also padded voter rolls, thanks to controversial federal legislation from the Clinton administration. If illegal immigrants and other noncitizens vote in the same proportion as in previous U.S. elections, the number will range anywhere from 1.5 million to nearly 3 million votes.

* "Abortion Is the #1 Crisis Facing Black America Today" (Walter Hoye, Washington Stand)

From the article -- As a young man in the 1960s, I marched with my family, with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Detroit and in Chicago. In the 1960’s, Black Americans distrusted government and any attempt to limit our population. We feared the motivation behind taxpayer-funded birth control clinics was nothing more than a malevolent effort to “limit” Black political power.

In 1965, at a meeting of the Council of Philadelphia Anti-Poverty Action Committee, Cecil Moore, president of the local NAACP chapter, condemned a Planned Parenthood program in northern Philadelphia because 70% of the population was Black. Moore labeled the plan as “replete with everything to help the Negroes commit race suicide.” In the 1960s, Black Americans knew what Margaret Sanger’s Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA) was all about...

Nevertheless, today, the Democratic Party and Black American leadership in the highest places, including Jesse Jackson, boldly endorse abortion on demand through all nine months of pregnancy and then some. It is more than abundantly clear that Black Americans are diabolically being targeted by the abortion industry.

* "The Media’s Criminal Misreporting on Crime" (Editors, Issues & Insights)

From the article -- "President Trump, as you know, the FBI says overall violent crime is coming down in this country.” That was ABC News’ David Muir “fact checking” Donald Trump during his debate with Kamala Harris. Two days later, the Bureau of Justice Statistics released the results of its national crime victimization survey, which showed that the number of victims of violent crime was 41% higher in 2023 than in 2020. There were almost 170,000 more rapes, 300,000 more robberies, 1.4 million more assaults, 300,000 more claims of domestic violence, and almost 400,000 more crimes with a violent weapon.

Why is the press so insistent on claiming that crime is no big deal? The reason is simple: Republicans have been tapping the public’s legitimate concerns about crime, blaming soft-on-crime leftists such as Kamala Harris, and promising to turn things around. So, the hopelessly partisan mainstream media feel that it’s incumbent on them to “prove” Republicans are lying.

* "Immigration: The Issue That Could Decide the Election" (John Hinderaker, Power Line)

From the article -- There are several great issues on which the presidential election (and Congressional elections, too) should turn. One is our out of control national debt, which promises to first hamstring our government, then bankrupt us. But no one is talking about it. Another is America’s deteriorating military readiness. The Europeans are scrambling to defend themselves against possible Russian attack; that in itself is a good thing. But they are doing it in large part because they believe that we no longer have the level of readiness needed to come to their aid. Trump hints at this issue occasionally, but that is about it.

A third major issue is cybersecurity. Our enemies (China, Russia, Iran, likely North Korea, maybe one or more non-state actors) have the ability to bring down our electric grid, crash the stock market, disrupt our communications, poison our water supply, and much more. Why don’t they do it? Only because we can do the same to them. It is a state of Mutual Assured Destruction, much as we have seen with nuclear weapons for many years. One thing about a cyber attack, though, is that we may not even know who carried it out. No one is talking about this threat.

Finally we come to immigration...

God's In the Math

Absolutely stunning!

Pass it along.   

Jumping Into the Pit

One often hears about how far America has fallen --- cultural devolution; the unraveling of morality; the precipitous decline in standards of education, law enforcement, and patriotism; the coarseness of public discourse and decorum; the irrelevance and apathy of the modern Church; and so on.

Indeed, it is grievously obvious that America is in a dark, degrading, dangerous pit. But I suggest that the nation hasn’t as much fallen into that pit as we have been intentionally pushed. And, far greater a tragedy, our fate has less often involved stumbling or being shoved into that pit than it has a knowing, volitional leap into it.  

The Top 5 (September 14)

* "Candidate, Moderate Thyself: Conservatives are right to complain about the blatant bias of ABC’s debate moderators, but the bigger problem was Donald Trump’s undisciplined performance." (Heather Mac Donald, City Journal)

From the article -- Yes, the moderators of ABC’s debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris were egregiously biased in favor of Harris. Yes, Harris recycled patent lies about Trump without the slightest pushback from the referees—that Trump has embraced the supposedly infamous Project 2025, that he supports a national abortion ban, that he called the anti-Semitic and racist demonstrators in Charlottesville in 2019 “fine people,” that he refused leases to black would-be renters. (The New York Times lauded the ABC team as a “model for real-time fact-checking.”)

But a low-information voter who, incredibly, still has not made up her mind about the election could easily decide for Harris on the basis of Tuesday’s debate. Trump put all his worst traits on display—his narcissism, his gratuitous nastiness, and above all, his penchant for using hyperbole as a substitute for argument.

* "Kamala Harris: ‘My Values’ Say Pro-Life Laws Are ‘Immoral’" (Ben Johnson, Washington Stand)

From the article -- Harris, who boasted she “brings values” to the White House, then repeated one of the many shopworn phrases she said during the debate: “One does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree the government, and Donald Trump certainly, should not be telling a woman what to do with her body.” Christians have held that abortion violates their faith, and should be illegal, for 2,000 years. Orthodox Jews also say they hold a pro-life faith. The Satanic Temple regards abortion as a sacrament.

As she has throughout the campaign, Harris promised to impose abortion on all 50 states by force. “I pledge to you when Congress passes a bill to put back in place the protections of Roe v. Wade as president of the United States, I will proudly sign it into law,” she said. “But, understand, if Donald Trump were to be re-elected, he will sign a national abortion ban. Understand, in his Project 2025, there would be a national abortion ban.”

The Biden-Harris administration has endorsed a bill that goes beyond Roe, allowing abortion until birth nationwide. The Democratic Party platform also supports taxpayer-funded abortions in the United States and around the world.

* "The Truth About World War II" (Victor Davis Hanson, The Free Press)

From the article -- In a recent and now widely seen Tucker Carlson interview, a guest historian named Darryl Cooper casually presented a surprising number of flawed theories about World War II. He focused his misstatements on the respective roles of Winston Churchill’s Britain and Adolf Hitler’s Germany—especially in matters of the treatment and fate of Russian prisoners, the Holocaust, the systematic slaughtering of Jews, strategic bombing, and the nature of Winston Churchill. 

Because of the size of the audience Carlson introduced him to, and because of the gravity of Cooper’s falsehoods, his assertions deserve a response. 

* "The Uniparty Turns Literal" (Mark Steyn)

From the article -- I thought Cheney was an homme sérieux. But, in the end, he wasn't. The Bush years have to be accounted a terrible failure, in which the leadership of the then dominant superpower was unable to grasp the simplest of truths - not least about the need for strategic clarity. Under Cheney, America launched wars with no war aims, in which it deluded itself that "smart bombs" counted for more than will. Meanwhile, on the home front, the rate of Muslim immigration to America doubled ...because it was more important to show the world how nice we are than to consider the cultural consequences of demographic transformation. So the west spent twenty years fighting over the most barren and worthless sod on the planet, while surrendering Malmö and Marseille, Rotterdam and Nottingham, and Lewiston-Auburn, Maine. This is what happens when you have a political class almost entirely disconnected from the rhythms of real life in real countries.

So Trump has performed a great service in driving the likes of Cheney to vote Kamala. The feeble charade of TweedleDem vs TweedleRep is designed to obscure the central fact of end-stage western "democracy" - that, on anything that really matters, nothing can be permitted to change. Thus, having Dick Cheney and Ilhan Omar formally on the same team is very helpful. Trump has driven the "respectable" political class to make the Uniparty literal, and its consolidation has freed up space for an actual second party.

* "Migrants flooding NYC’s justice system -- making up ‘75% of arrests in Midtown’ -- as ‘pathetic’ sanctuary city laws handcuff cops." (New York Post)

From the article -- The problem is made much worse by sanctuary city laws that mean New York cops aren’t allowed to work with ICE on cases in which they believe suspects are in the country illegally. Additionally, the NYPD says it is barred from tracking the immigration status of offenders. This makes it almost impossible for authorities to get their arms around the problem, experts and sources on the ground say.

“New York City eliminated a tool to get rid of violent criminals. What a mess,” Jim Quinn, a veteran former prosecutor at the Queens District Attorney’s Office, told The Post. “The sanctuary city law is pathetic. It’s disgusting. It’s crazy.” Making matters worse, police sources say, word has gotten out in the shelters about the city’s lax bail guidelines — meaning migrants know they’re going to get kicked back onto the street quickly after they’re nabbed.

Bonus picks for this week? Yes, here's a couple:

* "Why America’s Soaring Debt Is Biggest Threat to US Dollar" (Daniel Lacalle, Daily Signal)

* "The Return of Anti-History: Podcasts are not reviving history, as is often claimed these days. They are mostly drowning it in a tidal wave of blather, at best sloppy, at worst mendacious." (Niall Ferguson, The Free Press)

The September LifeSharer Is Up

 You'll find the pdf of this month's "very newsy" newsletter right here.

Dr. Greg Gardner Visits Vital Signs Ministries

We believe there will be a rich harvest from the seeds of encouragement, enlightenment, challenge, and friendship which were liberally sown throughout Dr. Greg Gardner’s visit to Nebraska. Our physician friend and longtime pro-life colleague from Birmingham, England was kept busy in his 4 and 1/2 day stay with us and a lot of ground was covered in the many stimulating conversations we enjoyed together. 

But it was not only Claire and I who were blessed to talk over many things with Greg; indeed, we count about 72 people he met in that brief time. 

Among Dr. Gardner’s activities while he was here were an in-depth tour and ministry review of Assure Women’s Center and radio interviews with Jackie Mahr at Walnut Radio and Karen Bowling at Nebraska Family Alliance down in Lincoln. Also, Greg spoke to 24 veteran pro-life advocates after a large potluck dinner at the home of Dr. Ralph and Carol Kramper.

But folded into all of these events were other breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and coffees where he was able to engage with Vital Signs Board members, many of our colleagues, even several of our neighbors. And those discussions explored many, many areas including the comparative states of the culture, church, politics, and pro-life movement in both the U.S. and the U.K.

It was a terrific ministry and Claire and I can certainly testify that know that Vital Signs Ministries will be profoundly affected for the good as we evaluate and enact things the we discussed with our dear friend. Thank you, Grace for lending your husband to us for this brief but momentous time! 

The Top 5 (September 7)

* "This is not fake news: U.S. Surgeon General warns that parenting is a health hazard" (Kimberly Ells, Mercator)

From the article -- This Surgeon General’s Advisory is the first time I recall seeing an official government entity framing children as a clear and present danger to their parents. It reminds me of radical feminist Sophie Lewis’ assertion that babies in utero commit “fetal violence” toward their mothers by introducing health threats to and demanding nourishment from their unfortunate maternal hosts. Likewise, Suzanne Sadedin says an unborn baby employs “manipulation, blackmail, and violence” against its mother while floating in the womb and usurping whatever sustenance it can suck from her body.

What does the Surgeon General say should be done about this assault on parents’ health? The “We Can Take Action” section of the advisory starts with this preface: “While parents and caregivers may have the primary responsibility for raising children… [it] is a collective responsibility.” It then gives a laundry list of collectivist solutions including the following...

* "The Oslo effect" Israelis won’t forgive or forget the left’s weaponization of the hostages to do Hamas’s dirty work for it." (Melanie Phillips, Jewish News Service)

From the article -- Israelis are being increasingly maddened by grief and horror over the unconscionable fate of the hostages trapped in the hell holes of Gaza. Last week’s cold-blooded murder of six of these captives by Hamas savages has tipped many Israelis over the edge.

The demonstrators’ demand for an immediate ceasefire deal to release the hostages is not only ludicrous to the point of near derangement but also poses a direct threat to Israel’s security and indeed existence—precisely the outcome that Hamas intends through its diabolical manipulation of the hostages’ plight.

* "Why Corporations Are Ditching Wokeness" (Dan Morenoff, City Journal)

From the article -- The growing number of corporations pledging to abandon “antiracist” policies and to restore the primacy of profit-seeking is encouraging. Only time will tell if their statements are sincere. While we wait to find out, it’s worth considering another detail of this reversal: Why now? The efforts of activists and journalists like Robby Starbuck and my colleague Christopher Rufo have played an important role in these developments. Their work has exposed discriminatory corporate policies and raised public awareness to a critical mass.

A more cynical interpretation, however, may help explain these decisions, too. Corporate decision makers may be pulling back from “woke” initiatives because they care more about legal exposure than they do about ideology. Courts are ever-more willing to hold executives responsible for racial discrimination. In a little-noted consensus, at least eight of the 13 U.S. Courts of Appeals—all those taking a position on the issue so far—have agreed that the individuals who participate in racial contracting discrimination are liable for the harms caused, even if a lawyer signed off on the practice. Since the 1970s, that liability has extended to directors who vote for discriminatory policies. 

* "Why aren’t governments tackling the epidemic of sexual abuse in America’s public schools?" (Michael Cook, Mercator)

From the article -- "The Justice Department and many law enforcement agencies and school systems have failed to take basic steps to prevent sexual misconduct and root out abusive cops,” the Post claims. The tragic thing is that these allegations come as no surprise. It is just the latest in a steady trickle of stories in the media about sexual abuse in American public schools. No doubt the problem is similar in other countries. The difference is that collecting meaningful information about abuse in schools is far more difficult in the US because of its sheer size and the number of jurisdictions – 50 states plus the District of Columbia and other territories, divided into more than 13,000 school districts. 

Three articles by journalist James Varney for RealClearInvestigations highlight a massive problem which emerges from time to time but has never been comprehensively studied. He writes: “For a variety of reasons, ranging from embarrassment to eagerness to avoid liability, elected or appointed officials, along with unions or lobbying groups representing school employees, have fought to keep the truth hidden from the public.”

* "The Adventure of the Black Paw" (Denny Hartford, Vital Signs Ministries)

In this 8 and 1/2 minute video clip, Denny recounts perhaps the most exciting day of his life...with a couple of moral applications of universal relevance. Check it out. You'll enjoy it.

The Adventure of the Black Paw

In this 8 and 1/2 minute video clip, Denny recounts perhaps the most exciting day of his life...with a couple of moral applications of universal relevance. Check it out. You'll enjoy it.

https://vitalsignsministries.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/The-Black-Paw-2.mp4

The Top 5 (August 31)

* "Solzhenitsyn Warned Us" (Gary Saul Morson, Commentary)

From the article -- Today we can ask: Why do so many cheer, or at least not object, when they witness mobs embracing the bloodthirsty and sadistic Hamas? Perhaps for the same reasons that young, pre-revolutionary Russians once celebrated terrorists who murdered innocent citizens? Having studied his country’s history, Solzhenitsyn foresaw the process that would lead to today’s chants of “globalize the intifada” and “any means necessary.” He repeatedly cautioned that Russia’s past may be America’s future.

How can it be, Solzhenitsyn asked, that so many Russians found the strength to “rise up and free themselves…while those [in the West] who soar unhindered over the peaks of freedom suddenly lose the taste for it, lose the will to defend it, and fatefully, almost [seem] to crave slavery?” Why do crudeness of thought and the repetition of ill-understood slogans pass for sophistication? “I couldn’t have imagined to what extreme degree the West desires to blind itself,” Solzhenitsyn told a London audience in 1976.

* "The Quiet Before the Storms in Ukraine, Gaza, and Taiwan?" (Victor Davis Hanson, American Greatness)

From the article -- Confusion and strategic pauses for the brief moment mark all these conflicts. In part, the hiatuses arose because of uncertainty surrounding the murky intentions and role of the United States. The latter is bogged down in an unpredictable if not bizarre election year, compounded by ambiguity about who is actually in control of the country and for how long, and who will be president after January 2025...

In conclusion, we are entering a very dangerous five-month period.

Joe Biden has been judged by the American people in the polls as too enfeebled to be reelected and declared by his own party to be too cognitively challenged to remain its nominee. That may suggest to foreign risk-takers that the U.S. president is deemed unfit by Americans themselves and thus conclude there might be a vacuum of rapid-response leadership at the White House.

The unspoken corollary is that the American people and both their political parties are certain that, while Biden is incapable of continuing as a normally engaged president through the last half-year of his tenure, he will nevertheless inevitably do so. And that conclusion is likely shared by enemies abroad, who may surmise that if there ever was a time to alter the current geostrategic map or the relative balance of power, that rare occasion is now on the horizon.

* "Germany Vows 'Knife Control' After ISIS Refugee Slashes Throats at Diversity Festival" (Daniel Greenfield, Gatestone Institute)

From the article -- There were 13,844 "knife crime" incidents in Germany in 2023, which the authorities are blaming on the existence of knives and not the perpetrators, who are reportedly mostly young Muslim men.

But locating the source of the problem is probably "not a very helpful insight," In the UK, people sharing such insights are being locked up even as Islamic terrorists are being freed.

The German government is more moderate than the Marxist lunatics at Whitehall. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Justice Minister Shabana Mahmood, a supporter of Islamic terrorism, have decided to ruthlessly suppress all British opposition to mass migration with raids and prison sentences.

Much like the American liberal obsession with gun control, literally objectifying the problem, talking about things so that they don't have to talk about people, and then talking about broader social and economic issues, is a useful distraction from seeing what is actually taking place.

* "Planned Parenthood tool Platkin hellbent on denying women true choice" (Paul Kanitra, NJ Assembly GOP)

From the article -- An open public records act request revealed that Platkin’s office worked with Planned Parenthood to create a consumer alert against pregnancy resource centers, issued in December 2022, that claims CPCs are organizations that seek to prevent people from accessing comprehensive reproductive health care. The alert urges consumers to contact Planned Parenthood for abortion providers and file complaints against the centers with the Division of Consumer Affairs for fraud.

Platkin took his attacks further and issued a subpoena to First Choice Women’s Resource Centers, a nonprofit abortion clinic alternative that does not perform or refer for termination services with five locations throughout the state. The subpoena demands records dating back more than 10 years, which center representatives say place an undue burden and detract from their mission. The Alliance Defending Freedom said Platkin “has never cited any complaint or other substantive evidence of wrongdoing to justify his demands.”

“Platkin is using the courts to cripple pregnancy resource centers into oblivion, plain and simple,” Kanitra said. “It’s a pregnancy resource center. They offer screenings and counseling just like Planned Parenthood does. They don’t offer abortion referrals and services, just like Chick-Fil-A doesn’t sell hamburgers. Sane people know this.”

“Matt Platkin belongs to an elite coalition of blue state attorneys general that prosecute undercover activists for investigating fetal tissue trafficking and persecute pregnancy resource centers for trying to help women and save babies, under the scare tactic heading of ‘misinformation,’” Kanitra said. “The state legislature or even the Feds need to come in and launch their own investigation into Platkin’s motives. If there is no factual basis for his actions against these pregnancy centers, he needs to immediately retract his consumer alert and drop his subpoena.” 

* "A Lethal Change in Language" (Denny Hartford, Vital Signs Blog)

From the article -- Once again, the science couldn’t be clearer.  And the science cannot change.  Therefore, for the progressives to fool the public, they went after the words. The population control advocates (and others who wanted to promote the sexual revolution) pressured groups like the American Medical Association to simply ignore the science and change their definition of conception, moving it somewhere “further down the line” from fertilization.

But where along the timeline of the prenatal child’s development could that new definition be placed? For claiming that conception occurs anywhere except the moment of fertilization would be completely arbitrary, completely unscientific, and completely untrue. For, once again, the scientific reality couldn’t be clearer -- a new life has already begun at fertilization and will continue until…well, until death.

The response from the population controllers? “Put the new definition of conception anywhere you want -- as long as it’s after the abortifacient action that these new drugs and devices utilize. You see, we can’t push the product in certain countries (like Catholic Mexico or Hindu India or Muslim Syria) if the people there realize they act post-conception. They don’t want abortion on their conscience. So, help us change the definition so that we can sell these ‘birth control’ drugs and devices as preventing pregnancy rather than stopping a pregnancy that’s already underway.”

That’s exactly what happened.

A Lethal Change in Language

In the passion of progressives to replace the historic and noble ideals of Western Civilization with secularism, hedonism, and statism, they understood that one of the first steps in their plan of conquest was to change the language in which the issues were framed.  For instance, the violent, immoral, and lethal act of elective abortion was eased into the social landscape by calling it a “voluntary interruption of pregnancy” or “an evacuation of uterine content” or the “restoration of normal menstrual function.”  The change in language helped progressives persuade the gullible and thus created dramatic changes in social practice.

It wasn’t rational.  It wasn’t right.  But, for passive people who had already surrendered much of their Christian heritage, their thinking, and their moral code for the self-centeredness of secularism, it worked.

Another vivid illustration of how changes in expression preceded (and thus helped to accelerate) dramatic culture shifts had taken place several years earlier and it too concerned abortion. The issue in that case was early abortions caused by chemicals and devices. You see, the proponents of the sexual revolution and its “sister cause,” the population control movement needed to overcome not only the obstacles of moral traditions, but they had to somehow get around the basic science governing human reproduction.  

For the science itself couldn’t be clearer. Indeed, any embryology textbook will lay out the fact that conception occurs when the sperm fertilizes the egg.  At that very moment a new life begins. After that, it's all about growth and development.  The scientific realities do not change. They cannot change. But distorting and denying the science, controlling social trends, and using false propaganda to change minds -- including the sinister manipulation of language? Well, those are other things altogether.

The language employed to describe human reproduction first began to change in the 1960s when population control advocates were looking to sell so-called “birth control” chemicals and devices among cultures that had a high respect for prenatal life. The problem was that the action of the pills and IUDs acted (at least some of the time) after conception. That is, they didn't always prevent conception. But they did prevent the embryonic human being from developing any further. That is abortion.

The primary techniques utilized by these misnamed drugs and devices was to prevent the developing person (already begun at conception and now growing quite rapidly as he or she made their way down the fallopian tube) from implanting in the wall of the cervix or, if implantation did occur, to forcibly dislodge the embryo from its new home in the womb. But remember, this is all after conception. These drugs and devices destroy lives that have already begun.

Once again, the science couldn’t be clearer.  And the science cannot change.  Therefore, for the progressives to fool the public, they went after the words. The population control advocates (and others who wanted to promote the sexual revolution) pressured groups like the American Medical Association to simply ignore the science and change their definition of conception, moving it somewhere “further down the line” from fertilization.

But where along the timeline of the prenatal child’s development could that new definition be placed? For claiming that conception occurs anywhere except the moment of fertilization would be completely arbitrary, completely unscientific, and completely untrue. For, once again, the scientific reality couldn’t be clearer -- a new life has already begun at fertilization and will continue until…well, until death.

The response from the population controllers? “Put the new definition of conception anywhere you want -- as long as it’s after the abortifacient action that these new drugs and devices utilize. You see, we can’t push the product in certain countries (like Catholic Mexico or Hindu India or Muslim Syria) if the people there realize they act post-conception. They don’t want abortion on their conscience. So, help us change the definition so that we can sell these ‘birth control’ drugs and devices as preventing pregnancy rather than stopping a pregnancy that’s already underway.”

That’s exactly what happened. Though it makes no scientific sense, though it’s a lie of the most arrogant and dastardly design, the definition of conception was disconnected from fertilization and linked instead to the embryo's implantation in the uterine wall. The effects of this lie have been universally damaging to life, health, family, and culture. And, of course, along the way, untold millions of preborn boys and girls have been destroyed. 

Of course, re-defining conception isn’t the only case where changing language was a sinister prelude to cataclysmic social change.  We see the tactic used everywhere in the culture wars.  Indeed, we live in an Orwellian world in which lies, distortion, omission, manipulation, and obfuscation fill the very air we breathe.  It is an atmosphere whose pollution is added to daily by politicians, academia, Hollywood, judges, Madison Avenue, the mainstream press, and the diversity classes your employer now requires you to attend.

But make no mistake, behind all these sources is the father of lies, he who has been wickedly determined (from his very first rebellion against God) to blind men’s minds, to spread lies, to hinder the proclamation of truth, to call evil good and good evil. Tragically, there have been many men and women giving the devil a lot of help in this campaign.

In stark contrast, however, the faithful Christian calls things by their right name. No snow. No spin. No shuck and jive. We are called to be truth-tellers, light-bearers, and prophets -- courageously, consistently and, as winsomely as possible, speaking the truth in love.

In this post-Christian phase of American history, there are certain lies which need to be opposed with particularly intense and concerted efforts. And among them are the ones I’ve described above. They are lies that have ushered in the silent holocaust of abortion as well as stimulating such corollary evils as physician-assisted suicide, lethal human experimentation, infanticide, and the deliberate cheapening of human life throughout all levels of society.

It was to help counter this dissembling culture of death that Claire and I formed Vital Signs Ministries more than 40 years ago. And, because the liars and cheats haven’t gone away, it is what we’re still about today. Of course, we serve in this mission alongside many, many others who haven’t given in or given up. For despite the enveloping cloud of lies in our era, the Holy Spirit reminds us that the obedient Christian can indeed overcome evil with good. Not only can we escape the tyranny of lies ourselves, but we can also even beat them back as they try to claim new victims. 

So refuse to compromise with the lies, distortions, and manipulations of language for evil purposes. Instead, shine as a light in the darkness; speak the truth in love; and call things by their right names.

Postscript -- Do the exhortations in this brief essay also apply to the Christian’s responsibility to address the lies about evolution, sexual practice, gender manipulation, the claims of false religions, and so on? No doubt about it. 

"With Warm Greetings from Jerusalem"

Dear Mr. And Mrs. Hartford, and Friends,

On behalf of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, we thank you for your recent card. We derive tremendous strength from the unwavering support of our many Christian friends around the world, and appreciate your message of encouragement and prayers.

With warm greetings from Jerusalem,

Sincerely, Rena Riger
Diaspora Affairs Advisor to the Prime Minister

This thoughtful note came in response to one I had written to the Prime Minister on one of our Colorado scene cards at the last Vital Signs letter-writing party. (That message is printed below.) I post both of these as a reminder (and an exhortation) that letters DO have a positive effect and, therefore, should be taken as a ministry responsibility way more than they are.

They also serve as a reminder (and an exhortation) regarding the Christian's duty to pray for the peace of Israel...and to be a "gospel light" to all nations.

Dear Prime Minister Netanyahu,

Just a quick word of encouragement for you to remain steadfast as you do everything possible to defend Israel from her enemies. As an American, I sincerely apologize for the lack of support you have received from the United States in the years of the Biden administration. Indeed, this callous indifference to the needs of Israel has been one of the Biden administration’s most shameful failures. Our prayer is that Republican victories in November will greatly increase military and intelligence support for your nation. However, our frequent and fervent prayers are to a much higher source of help for Israel: namely, the Lord God Almighty Who holds Israel in the palm of His hand.

However, Mr. Prime Minister, with all this said, I urge you to not neglect the critically important moral dimension necessary for Israel’s ultimate success and well-being. As God called on His people in the Old Testament to repent from their religious apathy, their following other gods, their being consumed by self-interest and pride, He certainly is calling on Israel now to reject these same sins and to get zealous for such righteous practices as sexual purity, defending the sanctity of all human lives (including preborn boys and girls), and a serious contemplation of just Who it is in history Who offers forgiveness of sins through faith in His atoning death.

Praying daily for the peace and security of Israel…and for the hearts of your people to consider the all-gracious gift of Jesus.

Talking About Kids...to Senior Citizens?

We had a wonderful time at the church service at Aksarben Village Senior Living yesterday afternoon  -- even though we were short-handed in the visitation team with only Don and Allen to help out. Unfortunately, that is a common problem in this ministry. Come to mention it, it is a common problem in a whole lot of Vital Signs activities: the prayers and public pro-life witness in front of Planned Parenthood, our letter-writing parties, involvement in our Book Brunches and other educational presentations, and the utilization of our materials and social media posts. Sigh.

However, we were delighted that yesterday’s church service went very well. The music was terrific -- as usual, we played 3 outstanding music videos -- and the fellowship afterward featured Allen’s homemade peanut butter cookies. They were a big hit. And the sermon? Well, I began with some heartwarming stories of our interaction with kids out at the Nebraska State Fair and transitioned into a brief exegesis of Psalm 137: 3-5. I concluded with a few applications regarding the Bible’s careful teachings regarding protecting children, defending their innocence and vulnerability teaching them (by precept and example) the things of God, being humble enough to learn from them, and then to appreciate the glorious fact that we have the opportunity ourselves to become the children of the almighty God. 

We had 18-19 in church yesterday which was a pretty good crowd for us but, again, that meant the four of us were kinda’ stretched in serving treats, giving everyone some personal attention in our fellowship time, and escorting Mary Ann and Emily back to their rooms. So let me again invite you to consider joining us (even if only occasionally – that would still be a huge help) for this important outreach. We start setting up at 2; the service starts at 2:30 and ends around 3:00; and then visiting goes for 30 to 45 minutes. If you are interested, please contact us. We (and they!) would love to have you join us.

Save One or Save None? Some Thoughts on the “Abolitionist” Criticism of the Pro-Life Movement

After a couple of queries regarding the “abolitionist” approach to the scourge of abortion, I’ve decided to post a slightly edited e-mail conversation I recently had with a young friend on the subject.

Hi, Denny and Claire, 
Hope you guys are doing well.
Thank you for all you do to love people and protect life! 

My wife and I recently ran into someone who is a strong abolitionist against abortion. I was taken aback because they are strongly against any kind of “incremental” pro-life legislation against abortion. They actually oppose such measures believing they are guilty of injustice -- they believe such laws acquit the guilty. I listened to a 2-hour dialogue of an abolitionist trying to convince other pro-life advocates to accept the same views.  

I certainly disagree with some of the abolitionist perspective, as it seems very all or nothing. At the same time, I admire their desire to follow the Word of God regarding how full justice should administered. I was wondering what your stance is on Abolitionism.

Don’t feel like you need to give a big response. I know you guys are busy but I really value your thoughts. 

Here’s my answer: 

Hey ----- ! 

My apologies for not replying sooner. I had planned to do so but then the storm hit us; we lost electric power (still don't have it); and we have been busy the last 3 days doing neighborhood clean-up of big limbs, smaller branches, and so on.

Anyhow – here’s the deal. I too can admire much of what “abolitionists” say. After all, the goal of protecting all innocent human lives is shared by all pro-lifers. Where I part company is when someone criticizes those pro-lifers who are trying to save lives and serve women and families right now...while yet working to create intellectual foundations, laws, and moral momentum to save more in the future.

In a fallen world, a world in which you must deal with current laws, social norms, and other unavoidable practical restraints, to insist on “all or nothing” almost always means you will get the nothing. And way too many of the “abolitionists” seem to be okay with that as long as they can feel (and tell each other) that they and they alone are the purest, the most noble, the true pro-lifers. But not content with merely patting themselves on the back, they often become extremely harsh and unfair in their criticism of other pro-lifers -- and not only in matters of methodology and strategy. Indeed, they end up castigating the sincerity, motives, and personal character of those pro-lifers they disagree with. I know; I am one of the fellows who has been roundly slandered by these folks.

So, here’s the deal. The pro-life champions of the last 60 years have always made the ideal our goal and the standard by which we measure the impact of our prayers and efforts. And that ideal is “the protection by law and social practice of all innocent lives, born and preborn.” But, the dedicated pro-life heroes are not content with ideals or long-term goals. They are intent on saving preborn kids from the wickedness of abortion right now! And as many as possible! So, they do not surrender the ideal, but they do engage in whatever lifesaving measures can be enacted in the meantime. We get what we can actually get; we save whatever lives we can right now even as we challenge the culture to more seriously consider the truths of God.

And remember, it is these same pro-life activists who are now dismissed as compromisers and cowards (and worse) who have not only led the fight in Congress and the state legislatures, they are the same people who started the pro-life pregnancy centers, do the sidewalk counseling, organize the Walks for Life and the Life Chain, put up the pro-life signs in farm fields all across the country, preach the pro-life sermons, write the pro-life books, broadcast the pro-life radio programs, and engage in frequent and fervent prayers against the evils of the anti-life mentality. Good grief.

Let me hearken back to the lifeguard training of my far distant past. Our swim coach/certifier posed this dilemma to us. “Okay, guys; a boat capsizes with 10 people on it. None of them can swim. You’re alone on the beach and it’s all-too-obvious you cannot save them all. So, what do you do?” We all knew the answer. You save someone! And, then if you have a chance, you save another! But, for goodness sakes, the one thing you do NOT do is to just stand there on the shore, bemoaning the sad fact that you can’t save them all. And, related to the present subject, neither does it help to stand there doing nothing except criticize the lifeguard who is trying to save lives!

Think about it. Have pro-life laws, even though none of them have yet outlawed all abortions, saved lives? Of course, they have -- and in untold numbers. Thank the Lord. And have such pro-life laws also enlightened, convicted, and challenged the general culture by making people more sensitive to what abortion really is? Again, of course, they have. There’s no doubt about it. So why the passionate negativity aimed at the pro-life leaders who have ministered in this way?

Here’s another way to evaluate the absolutist strategy of the abolitionists. Imagine a Christian who understands that the Old Testament decreed capital punishment be meted out for a variety of abominable sins, including males engaging in homosexual acts and dressing up as women. Would that person then believe that a Christian who supports laws designed to, say, prohibit the public practice of sodomy, deny the use of homosexual materials in government schools, or disallow drag queen “story hours” in public libraries is wrong to do so because those laws don’t go as far as Scripture directs? Would that be a cave-in, a sell-out of principle? Would Christians who tried to get some degree (indeed, whatever degree was possible) of decency and child protection into the law be condemned as hypocrites and fakers because they are not loudly (and exclusively) demanding the guilty be executed?  

Again, in a fallen world, in a darkened culture, in a society where one has to promote righteous causes within the frustrating boundaries of legislatures, judges, public opinion, and so on, you always try to get the most you can -- while always setting the foundation to go yet further towards the biblical ideals. Therefore, I repeat: “you demand all or nothing, you get the nothing every time.”

As you can perhaps tell, ---------, I have thought through these things over the years, but it hasn’t been until recently that those using the term “abolitionists" have been so unfairly critical of other pro-lifers. It is a very sad development and it couldn’t be more counterproductive to the pro-life cause.