Enough said...

 

Conviction and conscience

"We hold it for a fundamental and undeniable truth that religion, or the duty which we owe our Creator, and the manner of discharging it, can be directed only by reason and conviction, not by force or violence. The religion, then, of every man must be left to the conviction and conscience of every man: and that it is the right of every man to exercise it as these may dictate." [James Madison, Memorial and Remonstrance to the Assemby of Virginia]

The word "exercise" suggests action. Thus, it is the right of every man to act in a manner dictated by his conviction and conscience, even if his conviction dictates that he should not provided abortion-inducing drugs to his employees or make wedding cakes for same-sex couples. It is not the place of government to forbid such actions under penalty of law. But what if his conviction dictates that he shoot his next-door neighbor in the head? This is where the case for governance by "conviction and conscience" breaks down. The conviction of the Nazis was that Jews should be eliminated, and for many, this was completely consistent with the dictates of conscience. Today we see the wholesale slaughter of people in Iraq, and the perpetrators are believe they are simply carrying out the duty they owe to their Creator. 

This is why biblical morality is the only solution. Everything else is merely human opinion or preference. The Bible stands firmly behind those who are unwilling to contribute to killing babies or legitimize sexual immorality, but it utterly condemns the murderers of Jews, Shiites, and next-door neighbors. This means that conviction and conscience must be informed by biblical precept. This is not to say that government should force anyone to embrace the Bible; God doesn't even do that. It merely means that the government must not seek to prevent people from following the dictates of their biblically-informed conviction and conscience. There is nothing about real Christianity that threatens the peace, security, or freedom of a society. Just because an employer is not providing certain easily obtained "contraceptives" to his employees does not mean he is preventing them from having them. If they want them, they'll just have to get them somewhere else. 

The real issue in all the backlash against the Hobby Lobby decision has nothing to do with women's health or personal freedom; it has to do with legitimizing the killing of pre-born babies. The same is true of the wedding cake matter. Those people could go somewhere else to get a cake, but the fact that one store refused to make them one made a statement against same-sex marriage, and that could not be allowed to stand. So they appealed to the government to either force the cake-maker to make them a cake or penalize them harshly for refusing to. It's all about calling good evil and evil good. It's all about the public justification of sin. The policy of Holly Lobby was a public statement against abortion; therefore, our anti-God government could not let it stand. Fortunately Anthony Kennedy saw the light on this one and swung the decision in the right direction. Thank you Justice Kennedy.           

American weakness

North Korea, Iran, Benghazi, Syria, Crimea, Ukraine, and now Iraq -- classic examples of point 10 in my definition of true American conservatism: "that in the matter of international relations and America’s global responsibilities, American weakness—whether it be militarily, politically, or economically—is provocative to the enemies of freedom."

Cantor

US hypocrisy

“We are deeply disturbed over the sentencing today of Meriam Yahya Ibrahim Ishag to death by hanging for apostasy. We are also deeply concerned by the flogging sentence for adultery. We understand that the court sentence can be appealed,” the U.S. said in a statement.
“We continue to call upon the government of Sudan to respect the right to freedom of religion, a right which is enshrined in Sudan’s own 2005 Interim Constitution as well as international human rights law.”

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2014/05/pregnant-christian-to-die-for-refusing-to-convert/#wyWlOA7BY3Lj9Et7.99

“We are deeply disturbed over the sentencing today of Meriam Yahya Ibrahim Ishag to death by hanging for apostasy. We are also deeply concerned by the flogging sentence for adultery. We understand that the court sentence can be appealed,” the U.S. said in a statement.
“We continue to call upon the government of Sudan to respect the right to freedom of religion, a right which is enshrined in Sudan’s own 2005 Interim Constitution as well as international human rights law.”

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2014/05/pregnant-christian-to-die-for-refusing-to-convert/#wyWlOA7BY3Lj9Et7.99

“We are deeply disturbed over the sentencing today of Meriam Yahya Ibrahim Ishag to death by hanging for apostasy. We are also deeply concerned by the flogging sentence for adultery. We understand that the court sentence can be appealed,” the U.S. said in a statement.
“We continue to call upon the government of Sudan to respect the right to freedom of religion, a right which is enshrined in Sudan’s own 2005 Interim Constitution as well as international human rights law.”

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2014/05/pregnant-christian-to-die-for-refusing-to-convert/#52dtlz6IYuTKvcDt.99

Statement from the US State Department to the government of Sudan: "We are deeply disturbed over the sentencing today of Meriam Yahya Ibrahim Ishag to death by hanging for apostasy. We are also deeply concerned by the flogging sentence for adultery. We understand that the court sentence can be appealed... We continue to call upon the government of Sudan to respect the right to freedom of religion, a right which is enshrined in Sudan’s own 2005 Interim Constitution as well as international human rights law."

Yet right here in the United States, our own government does not respect the right of its citizens to freedom of religion, a right enshrined in our own Constitution. For example, Elaine Huguenin has been ordered to pay two women $7000.00 because she declined to photograph their "commitment ceremony." Her mistake was to tell them that she was declining because her Christian beliefs were in conflict with the message being communicated by the ceremony. Perhaps she should have lied and simply said she had a scheduling conflict. But of course that would have also been in conflict with her Christian beliefs. The Supreme Court has recently refused to consider the appeal of this case.

In another example of hypocrisy, the public ourcry against the kidnapping of 300 Christian school girls by Boku Haram, the Nigerian Islamic terror group, has been deafening and our government has responded by sending in investigators. Yet over the past 5 to 10 years, this same group has murdered around 3000 Nigerian Christians by bombing churches. They seem to especially like setting off bombs on Easter Sunday morning. Yet there has been virtually no outcry against these atrocitites. Only recently Boku Haram kidnapped 50 Christian boys and the story bearly made the news. Has this terror group finally crossed some kind of "political correctness" line by kidnapping girls?

The other day, I heard a liberal commentator say that if we locate these Nigerian girls (which is unlikely), we should immediately send in special forces to rescue them. His conclusion was, "The hell with national sovereignty." Okay, then why shouldn't we do exactly the same thing for Meriam Yahya Ibrahim Ishag? Or for every other female victim of kidnapping or religious persecution anywhere else in the world? The hell with national sovereignty. Yet, what would be our response if another nation violated our national sovereignty? This is what happens when people allow passion to overtake reason.

Certainly the Nigerian kidnappings were horrible, but there are a lot of horrible things going on in the world. Let's at least be consistent. Hypocrisy is also a horrible thing.

The first step...

The first step toward creating an entire society strung out on drugs is convincing children and their parents that they need synthesized drugs in order to function. This sets the stage for the rest of their lives. Today nearly 30% of American adults are taking prescription antidepressent drugs. Who knows what percentage of the population in Washington and Colorado are regularly smoking marijuana. We are clearly on our way to the Idiocracy.

As reported by UPI: "According to a new health study, some 7.5 percent of children ages 6 to 17 are being prescribed psych meds for emotional or behavioral problems. The study is based on information collected as a part of the National Health Interview Survey, designed and carried out by the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics." Read more at: http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2014/04/25/75-percent-of-schoolchildren-take-prescription-psych-meds/9691398436127/#ixzz2zvkVLzqb

Constitutional confusion

According to CBS News, Cliven Bundy told a Las Vegas radio station on Monday, “The founding fathers didn’t create a government like this.” I think Mr. Bundy may have forgotten his history. In 1794, President George Washington himself led the Army of the United States against some farmers in western Pennsylvania who refused to pay the new federal tax on whiskey. Tax collection at the point of a gun has been the norm from the beginning.

For the good of the children...

In view of the viscious attack at Franklin Regional High School this morning, I call for the registration of all knives and an immediate ban on all assault knives.

Paving the way

1996: As a candidate for the Illinois state senate, Obama filled out a questionnaire from Outlines, a local gay and lesbian newspaper, saying, "I favor legalizing same-sex marriages."

2008: As a candidate for president, Obama he said he believed marriage was an institution between "one man and one woman."

2012: As president, Obama announced that he favored same-sex marriage. In a subsequent interview he admitted that it’s "fair to say that I may have come to that realization (that same-sex marriage is okay) slightly before I actually made the announcement (like, say, 16 years before?). But this was not a situation where I kind of did a wink and a nod and a 180-degree turn."

Obama’s administration has refused to enforce the Defense of Marriage Act signed by Bill Clinton. It has eliminated Don’t Ask-Don’t Tell and allowed overt homosexuality in the military. It has recently announced that it will honor same-sex marriages in Utah even though the State of Utah doesn’t. This amounts to full-throated support for homosexual marriages. Could it all add up to Obama preparing the way for his second marriage after his second term is over and Michelle dumps him?

In honor of Roe vs Wade

The White House released a statement from President Obama on the anniversary of Roe vs. Wade. In this statement the president made the pronouncement that America "is a country where everyone deserves the same freedom and opportunities to fulfill their dreams." The problem with this statement is, for him, "everyone" does not include children who have not yet breathed fresh air. His statement also spoke of a woman’s choices about her body and renewed his dedication "to protecting a woman’s access to safe, affordable health care and her constitutional right to privacy, including the right to reproductive freedom."

Let's clarify the president's terminology. First, the term "reproductive freedom" actually means "the right to have your pre-born child slaughtered by a so-called health professional." Second, the phrase "a woman’s access to safe, affordable health care" can be translated into "no women should actually have to pay for her abortion." I wonder if the president knows that abortion is the number one cause of death in the black commmunity.