Our Founding Fathers

What is the most unappreciated thing about our Founding Fathers? I, like some other's, believe it was the Founding Fathers depth of thought and reliance on historical knowledge that served as their standard. Few today, chiefly progressives, have read or studied or even scanned the Federalist Papers. Had they done so, as I have, they would better value the extraordinary extent of thought and scope of experience that the Founders put into our system of government. They did not rely on contemporary populism to shape an imaginary nation in which there was no misery, grief, anguish and life was easy.   They relied on the accumulated knowledge of many centuries of human history by which mankind could best deal with rather than eliminate the imperfections of the human race and the realities of the human condition. By comparison, today's liberal elite arrogantly presume that from their few short years of life experience and their pubescent intellectual conceit they know better how people should act than all the generations that preceded them. The liberal mindset is, basically, how much better life would be if only people did not act the way they do and, instead acted the way liberal elites believe they should. And they are willing to dictate that behavior through the agency of an all powerful federal or central government, and to sacrifice liberty toward that end. They seek freedom in the name of liberty from the very responsibility the acceptance of which defines liberty.

Tides of Tyranny: What Actually Defines ISIS

Tides of Tyranny: What Actually Defines ISIS: Every day I read or hear of something that simply blows my mind. Today I read where some American elitists and academia’s elite actually co...

What Actually Defines ISIS

Every day I read or hear of something that simply blows my mind. Today I read where some American elitists and academia’s elite actually condemn the use of the word “evil” when referring to ISIS. Why do they object? They claim that ISIS is actually “administering social services.” Behold the clarity of thought that comes with jettisoning moralistic language! Never mind that the Islamic State says it seeks a global caliphate with its flag over the White House. Who cares that it is administering social services? Hitler, Stalin and Mao did, too. That's what revolutionary groups do when they grab enough territory. There's a more fundamental question: Is it true? Is the Islamic State evil? As a matter of objective moral fact, the answer seems obvious. But also under any more subjective version of multiculturalism, pluralism or moral relativism shy of nihilism, "evil" seems a pretty accurate description for an organization that is not only intolerant toward gays, Christians, atheists, moderate Muslims, Jews, women, et al. but also stones, beheads and enslaves them. In my opinion ISIS’s actions personify evil both subjectively and objectively. To think otherwise is an indication of one’s moral corruption and lack of brain cells. 

Time for Action is Now

Let me echo some of the West's leaders in so much as they deal with a serious issue that is germane to all freedom loving peoples. The ISIS terrorist threat cannot simply be removed by airstrikes and drones alone. America specifically and the West in general need a tough, intelligent and patient long-term approach that can defeat the terrorist threat at its core. The core is Islamism and because it is an amalgam or infusion of religious and political doctrines, people regarded as infidels and deserving of death (that would be us) do not have enough diplomats or political resolutions to dissuade them and so they must be eliminated or subjugated. I am in favor of elimination. Why you may wonder would I favor such extreme action? Simply put, we are in the middle of a generational struggle against a venomous and fanatical ideology, which I believe we will be fighting for years to come. There is little doubt in my mind that America and the West’s liberty is at stake.

Becoming Relevant

It has become obvious that the Christian church can no longer afford to sit silently on the sidelines while agendas in Washington erode the foundation of freedoms Americans and other like-minded people enjoy. 

It has been said by some that only about 60 percent of evangelicals are registered to vote, and not all of them actually do vote. I presume the same is true of the Catholic denomination. So, it's imperative that the church body as a whole wake up, become active, make their voices heard and vote their values. If not, we the church are in peril of becoming irrelevant. Christians of all denominations make up a substantial chunk of voters. We must use our size in numbers, become politically active and voice our concerns about the direction our government is taking. If we do that, then and only then, will we affect positive change that can make a difference and change our culture for the better.

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Some pundits will say that religion and politics should never be mixed. To counter that argument I ask you; how would Jesus have acted in the political arena? I believe He would have held those in leadership position’s feet to the fire. He would have held them accountable. He would have encouraged them to do the right thing. That's what we must do if we expect to have a nation left for future generations. Christians worldwide were created to be world-changers, but to be a world-changer we cannot remain silent. We can do this together by communicating the truth in whatever mode you choose. As for me, I begin with the written word.

Tides of Tyranny: Why Faith in the Midst of Dismay

Tides of Tyranny: Why Faith in the Midst of Dismay: Let us speak to the idea of disillusionment and finding hope and faith in a cynical world where such things are often ridiculed. Life is so...

Why Faith in the Midst of Dismay

Let us speak to the idea of disillusionment and finding hope and faith in a cynical world where such things are often ridiculed. Life is sometimes depressing when you think about it. Even when there’s joy in the world, there’s still menacing domains slipping in. No matter how important our lives may be, physically speaking, we will all be dust in a matter of years. Why would anyone want to live in this most depressing of times?

The answer is that in the midst of gloom, there is faith. And indeed, sometimes it feels like we are in the midst of darkness and that the light of life has been truly obscured. Many of the institutions that are supposed to serve us—whether they be businesses, corporations, government entities or legislators we elected to serve us—have made mistakes along the way leading to the fact that people have been left forsaken. The Church is the institution that is supposed to give people a higher purpose and a higher feeling of providence, has too frequently proven incapable of coping with the burden and has been stained or corrupted by the power within its own structure. But even in the darkest of times, there are people who do the proper thing and make the appropriate decisions and choose the more difficult path. As Christians of true faith each of us are one of those people. We know that individuals have become cynical, disconsolate and grieved by a world that often undermines their optimism, but the real believer also knows that it’s important to maintain one’s faith in a higher power. Let each believer remain steadfast throughout these troubled times, let us remain good men and women of faith even though our position in the priesthood of believers could mean our ruination or in a not too distant future, perhaps our demise.

Islamic Extremism and the Great Silence

Ever ask yourself why the United Nation’s, President Obama, Congress and the Church in general is silent on the purge by radical Muslims of anything Christian in the Middle East and North Africa? Christianity as we know it in the Middle East and North Africa is being wiped out. The fact is, Muslims members of  various terror groups/organizations have been sweeping across parts of the Middle East and North Africa, executing Christians and destroying Christian towns, churches and ancient Christian sites. The attacks are no more than genocide.

Those of us who think for themselves would label it as a crime against humanity. Where is the United Nation’s? Where is the Obama Administration? Where is the Congress? Is the silence not deafening? The West, particularly the church, needs to stand up to this tyranny. Let your voices be heard.

Imagine, if you will, that the roles were reversed. Instead of radical Islamist’s killing Christians and destroying Muslim towns and shrines, Christians of the fundamental persuasion began a systematic purge of Muslims. Their mosques were destroyed, their crescents defaced, the Quran burned and then all Muslims forced to flee or face execution. Such an event would be unthinkable today and if it did occur Christian leaders would denounce it and support efforts by governments to halt it.

Is not today’s religious extremism almost entirely Islamic? This does mean that all Muslims are extremists, but it does mean that all Muslims have an obligation to denounce and resist the extremists who murder or subjugate in the name of Allah. Too few Muslim leaders and clerics living in the tolerant West will speak up against it. As for the post-Christian West, most elites may now be nonbelievers. But a culture that fails to protect believers may eventually find that it lacks the self-belief to protect itself.

Tides of Tyranny: Do Something

Tides of Tyranny: Do Something: Leaders in Washington, do something. Not a chance. As if there were the slightest chance anyway of rebuking and punishing all the world...

Do Something

Leaders in Washington, do something. Not a chance. As if there were the slightest chance anyway of rebuking and punishing all the world's bad actors – a constantly growing crowd. On the other hand, outlaws tend to flourish in environments where the outlaws, actual or potential, real or otherwise sense the sheriff to be furthest away, and perhaps to be most kowtowing to their purposes. In an age of general and deliberate non-judgmental mentality, with punishment a rarity and offense seldom succeeded by action, brigands flourish. The cry for a "leader on horseback" to bring clarity, make the trains run on time, get the mail delivered, and so forth is eternal: as we would know if public education taught history with anything like the thoroughness that formerly prevailed in our schools. We get in these, what happens next moods, whenever things begin to go amiss. I fear we are there, again.