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Wednesday, October 19, 2016
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Monday, October 10, 2016
Headline Potpourri #91
Too bad the liberal media doesn't get as worked up over Hillary's call for open borders and the coddling of terrorists which actually endanger more American lives than Trump's misconstrued remarks regarding the Second Amendment.
A Muslim flight attendant is suing for being suspended for refusing to serve alcoholic beverages because doing so would violate her religion. Why shouldn't she be punished similarly to the Christian bakers refusing to prepare cakes for gay weddings? Will Hooters be required to alter its uniform policies to accommodate Muslim waitresses refusing to adorn themselves with the eatery's questionable apparel?
Do those jacked out of shape about Trump's Second Amendment remarks get as upset regarding the shocking number of Clinton associates and critics that have actually met unexpected and mysterious ends? Its probably why Obama selected Joe Biden as Vice President rather than Hillary.
The DEA has ruled against medical marijuna. So apparently terminal cancer patients will be denied access to that to which the Obama children apparently have at their fingertips.
Is Trump saying Obama created ISIS any worse than blaming the USA for Saddam Hussein or Bin Laden?
On Fox News, Geraldo insisted that Trump does not do saracasm well. But isn't it more that the contemporary liberalism is wound so tight in pursuit of revolutionary societal transformation that adherents of this ideology have lost whatever sense of human they might have initially possessed.
In a New York Times interview in which presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church Micheal Curry spent an inordinate amount of time reminding readers that he is Black, he said of the pending presidential election, “Love, at least as Jesus articulated it, has to do with seeking the good and the welfare of others before one's own enlightened self-interest. Our politicians must reflect that.” It must be from that renunciation of self-interest why the Episcopal Church drags congregations into court that have come to the conclusion that their own spiritual well being might be more fully met in another denomination such as the Anglican Church of North America. For nothing says loves like forcing someone to stay in a relationship against their will.
In January 2014, a marine biologist was convicted of a misdemeanor for feeding whales in a protected federal sanctuary. The prosecutor assured that the punishment wasn't an example of excessive punitive overreach. A strong message needed to be sent because, when these animals are fed by humans, they lose their instincts by becoming dependent and eroding their innate sense or wariness. Such a situation endangers both human beings and cetaceans. The science policy advanced by both academia and government contends that human beings are actually nothing more than animals ourselves. If that is the case, then wouldn't extensive ongoing handouts provided by the government also interfere with and alter the inherent instincts of the able-bodied that would otherwise be compelled to make at least a good faith effort to provide for themselves?
In the attempt to prevent Islamist immigration, Donald Trump has suggested that those seeking entrance into the United States need to be scrutinized to determine if these applicants harbor antisemitism or hatred towards gays and women. But dependent upon how these are defined, what guarantees will be put in place to prevent these ideological tests from being applied against Christians by the social engineers infesting numerous governmental bureaucracies? For in certain circles, antisemitism is defined as believing that Jesus is the only valid path towards God. Being anti-gay is increasingly defined as believing that a legitimate marriage can only be contracted between a man and a woman. And hatred towards women is defined as little as failing to put the toilet seat down.
So long as someone is not out constantly awhoring, is it really the business of a church if someone is single? In a podcast posted at SermonAudio, the pastoral staff of Berean Baptist Church bragged that they were all married in their early 20's. That means there wives were likely as young. So under what obligation are we second tier folks nobody wanted in the early round picks obligated to settle for other apparently less than desirables where no one is going to be happy and are for the most part settling out of a sense of socio-religious obligation imposed by these kinds of hardline religionists?
In a pastoral roundtable of Berean Baptist Church posted at SermonAudio, it was insinuated that children should be allowed to wander about pretty much unsupervised as they pleased. Will this church pick up the tab for the legal bill when the parents heeding this advise are slapped with accusations of neglect by child protective services? Will the church pay for the medical and even longterm care expenses when children are injured or even mangled in accidents? But that might divert funds from missionaries of the variety that do not so much love the souls they minister to as they do the opportunity to badmouth the American way of life from foreign shores.
There is no winning with most pastors. In sermons, a common complaint is that most parishioners after church briefly chat amongst themselves about mundane matters such as what they've watched on TV lately or what they will be doing once they get home. But it was handed down in a homiletical pronouncement that a church cannot tolerate those in attendance standing around on the property following the proceedings criticizing where the pastor might have fallen short in either doctrine or delivery. So the moral of the story is not to articulate amongst fellow believers what might be on your mind but rather that which will ingratiate yourself to the ecclesiastical authority structure.
In a Berean Baptist pastoral round table posted at SermonAudio griping about the state of American youth, the practice of giving at least a small token to each child that participates in organized athletics was condemned. The practice may have gotten out of hand. However, you are going to have to do something to keep the children that might not excel at athletics coming back or otherwise your league is going to collapse. Even the players on the NFL teams that consistently lose get handsome salaries even if they aren't given a Super Bowl ring. There are only so many Bible verses that can be stretched out of context to coerce compliance from the standpoint of old fashioned Fundamentalst guilt before that sort of manipulation no longer works.
President Obama played a round of golf with comedian Larry David. Given that David urinated on a picture of the Virgin Mary as part of a routine, isn't this a great outrage than if Obama invited Paula Deen to cater a White House State dinner?
In a sermon, an article was referenced lamenting that, each year, five percent of missionaries leave the field. How do we not know God is not leading them to another endeavor? For often is it really so much God that is leading people into this variety of ministry or rather overly zealous religious functionaries and administrators?
In a sermon addressing the Biblical text admonishing women to be keepers at home, a pastor remarked that his wife often babysat for women that worked outside of the home. But if women working outside of the home is sinful as the homily seemed to suggest, isn't providing babysitting services for such women akin to running a motel that charges rates by the hour for the purposes of facilitating adulterous liaisons?
A number of schools are implementing policies where biological males identifying as transgendered will be allowed to slumber (and possibly even horizontally frolic) with the females on overnight academic excursions. Does this require a track record of ongoing psychosis despising the reproductive pleasure anatomy with which God endowed you or can it be the result of a sudden pre-trip epiphany based largely upon whom you'd rather be snuggled up against and entwined with in the middle of the night?
In a Washington Post interview, the president of the leftwing think tank Demos Heather McGhee insisted that, out of a sense of patriotism, Americans must be willing to admit how profoundly prejudice they are and renounce economic policies that are the result of such. That translates as higher taxation imposed upon those that work to lavish additional handouts upon those unwilling to do so. Don't expect much to be said to discourage the destruction of private property in response to unpopular judicial rulings or police actions.
Regarding the so-called “burkini”, so long as a woman is clothed at the beach, on what grounds do you penalize someone for wearing one? For is the garment that markedly different in appearance from a scuba wetsuit?
A knife-wielding demoniac murdered at least 19 at a facility for the disabled. Will there now be a call for knife control legislation? After all, we really don't need knives. Food can be precut before purchase or officials can be placed on standby to be called when we mere subjects of the realm are faced with a situation requiring cutlery. For if you can wait around for police to take their sweet time in a life or death situation as they traverse the distance from the doughnut shop to your location, surely there is no inconvenience in waiting for someone to cut up the steaks environmentalists and meddlesome health officials insist we shouldn't be eating in the first place.
On a children's wildlife program, it was said EVERY living thing in an ecosystem is essential for its ongoing sustainability. Does that include plague causing microorganisms?
Of a review of “Orthodoxy” I posted at a Christian social network it was said, “For those that do not know, Chesterton was a Roman Catholic. He was a fine writer, and I've enjoyed his fiction, but couldn't recommend his books to believers.” So because Chesterton was Roman Catholic, that invalidates every last thing the man ever said even in those areas where Roman Catholics and conservative Evangelicals are in agreement? Whatever happened to the idea of selectively embracing the ideas of an author? And by holding to this prohibition, aren't you saying of your fellow believers that they are too stupid to sift the truthful from the questionable? Isn't this the kind of attitude that might nudge your coreligionists in the direction of the Vatican? Perhaps it might be more productive to turn this criticism for suggesting a book by Chesterton into an examination as to why Protestants are not as appreciative of those that can articulate basic Christian teaching and doctrine outside the formalized ecclesiastical authority structure when that brand of the faith claims not to be as dependent upon a centralized organization.
A pastor on SermonAudio asked why, in a church full of converted people, do Christians have to be begged to teach. Probably because many churches impose a litany of rules and regulations not necessarily clearly spelled out in the pages of Scripture. A congregation can administer its affairs as the assembly sees fit. Just don't get upset when many decline to participate beyond a minimal level.
Pastor Jason Cooley in a SermonAudio oration condemned online ministry because of the tendency of those engaged in such to easily denounce those with whom they disagree as heretics. And how is that markedly different than the sort of Baptist church that practices radical blanket separationism rather than a discernment of degree based upon the issue under consideration?
Berating a depressed individual by yelling at them that they need to get their eyes off themselves and onto God isn't necessarily going to lift a person out of their funk. It's just going to cause a number to wonder what kind of self-absorption does God suffer from that He can't take a moment or two out of His schedule upon hearing that someone has the blahs.
In the attempt to spread fear and panic about, well, fear and panic, Pastor Jason Cooley in a SermonAudio homily warned that depression and a downcast spirit can spread from one person to the next. As evidence, he relayed the case of such an incident that transpired during street preaching. Street preaching is where the unsuspecting are verbally ambushed on the street regarding their need for Jesus. The person prone towards discouragement should have probably not participated in this form of confrontational outreach. But there is often no other way to advance or even retain status among this variety of militant fundamentalism.
In a sermon condemnatory of Christians suffering from depression, Pastor Jason Cooley remarked that often unbelievers exhibit more outward joy than many Christians. Maybe that's because they are not regularly harangued from the pulpit regarding a number of matters that are one's person opinion and not something clearly elaborated in the Word of God.
In a sermon critical of depression, it was asserted that most health issues are mental issues and that you cannot feel sorry for yourself. But is this kind of sentiment articulated out of concern for the suffering or rather because those purveying such advice don't want to be bothered hearing about other people's problems?
In condemnation of Internet ministry, Pastor Jason Cooley remarked that the primary failing of online critics is that they do not discuss the matter that they are addressing face to face. But if they are preemptively categorized as “Jezebel's” or as “women laden with sin” by this kind of pastor, what is the point in doing so? For isn't this pastor exhibiting a similarly unteachable spirit as well?
In reaction to a John MacArthur meme, a Calvinist theologian posted, “Exactly! We need to be judging and assessing the salvation of others. Churches and filled with undisciplined pagans professing to be Christian.” And what is the point of doing so if God has already through deliberative aforethought selected those who are bound for Heaven and whom He will allow to slip into Hell? Maybe there would be fewer of these crypto-pagans that nothing can allegedly been done for in church if we weren't constantly beaten over the head about being in church every time the door is open and the suggestion propagated by certain varieties of Calvinism that a number of opportunities should be denied to those that are not formalized members ranging from the recognition of one's marriage and the resultant children as legitimate in the eyes of organized religion to voting in civil elections and holding public office.
In the March 21, 2016 issue of Businessweek is a piece about a men's retailer that sells one pair of shorts for $75, another pair for $55, and a shirt for $98. Unless these also double as a working invisibility cloak, apparently some people have more money than common sense. $5 for a pair of brightly colored socks or a novelty tie is pushing it.
In a podcast, it was admonished that Christians are obligated to make their gardens more beautiful for Christ. If there is going to be that much stress in connection with something that is for the most part a leisure activity, why bother planting one in the first place?
Hillary Clinton has promised a new mental health program. If implemented, perhaps she will be the first to avail herself of these services.
Now that her own bosom is probably sagging and whithered beyond the uplifting hope of reconstructive repair, former Baywatch Bimbo Pamela Anderson is urging men not to gaze upon pornography.
Democratic Vice Presidential Candidate Tim Kaine has condemned Donald Trump's audience with the Mexican President as a “diplomatic embarrassment”. But wasn't this meeting where both figures agreed to the importance of mutually respecting each other's nation's borders more productive than Obama's own preelection preening here he sauntered to locations such as Berlin where he attempted to hoodwink the assembled throngs into believing he was the Messiah or some such equivalent?
Russell Moore now laments Evangelicals deriving much of their identity from politics. What he probably means is that he is upset many Evangelicals disagree with his preferred politics. From his public pronouncements, it would seem Moore would need to be among the first to repent. For did not Moore rank the foremost calling into question the validity of the profession of faith those Christians expressing electoral support for Donald Trump? Does not Moore himself sit on the board of the National Hispanic Leadership Conference, a group dedicated to the advancement of a particular groups interests at the expense of another based primarily on skin color and related physical characteristics? If Moore believes that the primary concern of the Christian ought to be the evangelistic or doctrinal, why did he leave his original position as a seminary professor to head the Ethics and Public Policy Commission which is essentially the political arm of the Southern Baptist Convention?
A Marvel Comic about a Black superhero that in part confronts gentrification has been canceled. The fact that it proudly focused on gentrification pretty much tells you why it was canceled.
More time has elapsed between the premiere of Star Trek: The Next Generation and now than between the premieres of Star Trek: The Original Series and Star Trek: The Next Generation. So shouldn't the upcoming online series be Star Trek: The Next Next Generation rather than rehashed prequel material of everywhere we have already been before? Are producers that bereft of creativity? If nothing else, couldn't they focus on the Time Wars hinted at in Star Trek: Enterprise or a time ship like the one featured on an episode of Voyager?
So regarding a church that plans to hold a clothing swap but refuses to hold a flea market, garage sale, or craft fair from perspective that such activities are sinful, why is it acceptable to trade clothing on church property but wrong to sell it?
If someone says on 9/11 that the date is a commemoration of remembrance but that they refuse to fill their mind with such images, aren't they filling their minds with such by simply mentioning it? Furthermore, isn't this perspective not that much different than saying that one does not want to focus on the sufferings of Christ but rather concentrate on His moral teachings? Isn't the Christian, especially if the individual presents themselves as a spiritual leader, supposed to approach reality as it actually exists?
If a pastor says that he'd rather do something he finds satisfying rather than be paid for in order to manipulate people into doing things for the congregation, shouldn't he put his proverbial money where his mouth is by refusing any kind of financial reimbursement from the church? If we are supposed to only do things that satisfy rather than because they pay as counseled from a pulpit, who will end up funding a church and, perhaps more importantly, these numerous missionaries many of these churches like to finances often at the expense of the church's own financial viability?
Pulling Titus 3:13 entirely out of its exegetical context, a pastor insisted that it was mentioned that Zenas was a lawyer as proof that Christians practicing secular professions are obligated to offer their skills on behalf of the church gratis. But does not Scripture teach that a workman is worthy of his hire? Where does it say in holy writ that this teaching applies only to professional religionists?
The question should be asked. Did the principal that urged parents to have their children exempted from standardized tests in order not to bring down the school's average break any laws or regulations? If not, he cannot be made the scapegoat for utilizing a provision allowed by policy or procedure. It might not have been the politically correct thing to do, but he not only has to look out for his own position but he must also take into consideration jeopardized funding that would be denied to the more capable students at the school. Wouldn't the ones to blame be rather the legislators or regulators that implemented such a system?
Regarding those such as celebrities threatening to leave America if Trump is elected president. That should upset us why? Such consequences would probably make America a better place. Therefore, good riddance.
While addressing the Colin Kaepernick fiasco, the pastoral staff of Berean Baptist Church lamented in a discussion uploaded to SermonAudio the rise of “Fox News Christianity”. By that, the gaggle of theologians meant a variety of religious devotion that conflates patriotism with the Christian faith. Is it that the two have become dangerously intertwined or are these professional religionists jacked out of shape that some people might have interests and concerns beyond constant church attendance? Interestingly, in these remarks the conservative Christian is admonished that Kaepernick is within his Constitutional rights to be as disrespectful as he wants to be. However, when the conservative believer articulates their particular social vision, these same pastors bore them a new one how the Bible and the Constitution are not the same and how we really have no rights. Usually that sort of rhetoric is invoked to opposition to mistreatment or abuse taking place within a religious context.
If your cutoff shorts are cut so short that the pockets dangle lower than the cut off, it's pretty safe to say that the shorts are now risque.
Hillary Clinton said her pneumonia is the first time Republican men have ever expressed concern regarding women's health. This has got to be the first time the phrase “WOMENNNNNNN's health” wasn't employed as a euphemism for wanton fornication and infanticide. An infomercial is urging viewers to invest in a company developing the technology to hold 3D holographic events. In essence, you too can own a little piece of the Antichrist. The technology in itself is morally neutral. However, cannot help but have that verse come to mind about life being given to the image of the Beast.
Those wanting the name of Jefferson Davis Highway in Alexandria changed are probably carpetbaggers not even from Virginia.
Authorities are asking bystanders with possible recorded footage of the NYC dumpster bombers to come forward. When this video depicts perpetrators other than Whites of a conservative visage, will such vigilant citizens be harassed like those insisting that they saw a third Oklahoma City bomber?
The extent to which those in the ruling regime and their dutiful supplicants in the media are reluctant to categorize an act of violence as terrorism is evidence of the degree to which terrorists and allied subversives have eroded the American spirit.
Hillary's pronouncement in light of the NYC dumpster bombing that it is better to delaying arriving at a conclusion about a matter until more information is available reveals the thinking of a woman having spent a lifetime denying what is staring her right in the face such as about what Bill was putting into Monica's.
At the United Nation's, Obama insisted that we are obligated to throw our borders open to Islamist refugees. Maybe a number can be relocated to reside alongside him in the family quarters at the White House and at his assorted properties when he leaves office.
In a sermon where the modern believer was condemned for having a Walmart nearby unlike the humble ancient agrarian who only had God to rely upon, it was fascinating to hear the pastor stumble when the Power Point froze. For is not the pastor relying on images to compensate for lackluster homiletical delivery unlike the prophets of old who were empowered by God's spirit rather than Microsoft apparently?
In a sermon on singleness, it was decreed that singles not volunteering in the church are “not being accountable” (that nebulous catch all when professional religionists want to chew you out for something but really can't clearly point out exactly what you are alleged to have done wrong). If the pastor is getting paid, you are not obligated to do anything on behalf of a religious organization unless you have contractually agreed to for a predetermined amount of pay.
In a SermonAudio homily, Sean Harris of Berean Baptist Church lamented that the suburbanite is not required to rely upon the provision of the Lord to the same degree as the agrarian. So why is he the pastor of a religious entertainment complex in fairly modernized Fayetteville rather than somewhere in the remote mountains of North Carolina?
It was suggested in a sermon that singles ought to volunteer to babysit the children of the married people in the church. Shouldn't the children be taken care of by the parents that had the sex bringing the whelps into existence? And if these singles are obligated to babysit the married people's kids, shouldn't they be paid for this labor?
It was said in a sermon on singleness that viewing someone not married by the age of 25 as an old maid was from a certain perspective at one time rooted is supposedly Scriptural ideas. Nearly the same sort of thing used to be said about sending the Black folks to the back of the bus.
It was said in a sermon on marriage that most men enter into it selfishly. As if most wenches settle for ugly men with no bank account, automobile, property, or steady job.
So long as a “do good” initiative is voluntary, fine and dandy. Thing is, the contemporary dogooder is of the mind to force you to do good even if what they consider doing good is at variance with those eager to parade their virtue?
Fuss is being made that CIA director John Brennan voted for the Communist Party candidate in 1976. Perhaps the more pressing concern ought to be that for the past several election cycles that the Communist Party simply endorses the Democratic candidate as its nominee?
If liberals can remove Confederate monuments and recognitions from public memory, perhaps conservatives should begin to lay the framework to eventually remove Obama's name from buildings where he was bestowed this honor for simply having emerged from his mother's birth canal half Black.
On the WRC 4 website regarding the story about proposed enhanced security measures at Arlington Cemetery, of all the military personnel buried there, the accompanying photo just happened to focus on the grave of a Muslim.
If one can't be compelled to show a photo ID in order to vote, then why should one be compelled to show a photo ID to enter Arlington Cemetery as proposed by the military? If one is to be made to feel like a criminal for making the effort to visit these solemn grounds, what is to prevent the average American from no longer caring about such places if they become yet another venue in which the state can practice its conditioning techniques resulting in increased docility?
In the first 2016 presidential debate, Hillary Clinton criticized Donald Trump for capitalizing upon and speaking favorably of the real estate crisis. How is what Trump did appreciably different than the actions of Clinton financier George Soros who deliberately conspires to collapse entire currencies and economies?
In the first 2016 presidential debate, Hillary Clinton condemned the American people for their implicit prejudice that prompts them to think in ways not authorized by tolerancemongers and selected social engineers. Does she intend to speak as directly against those that help themselves without benefit of recognized economic transaction to the inventory of nearby merchants following an unpopular trial verdict or police action?
Apparently pink gloves denote breast cancer awareness. Don't gloves prompt you to think more of prostate cancer?
USA Today has declared Donald Trump unfit to be President. Some have always insisted that USA Today isn't fit to be considered a newspaper.
A NYC councilman insists he's no less patriotic for refusing to stand for the pledge of allegiance. Probably because he wasn't very patriotic to begin with.
The U.S. Navy has announced that personnel will be addressed by rank rather than job classification in the attempt to avoid articulating the profanity “man”. Does the Russian or Chinese militaries sit around wringing their hands about such banalities?
In a homily posted on SermonAudio, Sean Harris of Berean Baptist Church condemned those not risking their lives for Christ in the same manner as the Apostles and early Church Fathers. Such exhortations might carry more weight if the pastor wasn't sitting so comfortably as the head honcho of a sizable religious entertainment complex. If the pastor replies to mere pewfillers perceptive enough to raise these sorts of observations that he is exactly where God wants him to be, the retort to that ought to be is how does he know that the mere pewfiller isn't exactly where God wants them to be?
According to Sean Harris of Berean Baptist Church, the Christian ought to take risks for Christ with little consideration of the consequences. If they do and loose their jobs, will the church pick up the tab or do new vacation Bible school puppets every year take precedence in terms of the disbursement of the offering?
Some are building bunkers and emergency shelters fearing the prospects of a Trump election victory. See, he's already stimulating the economy with many of these jobs no doubt going to migrant laborers.
Donald Trump has been condemned for wondering how Hillary would fair without an armed Secret Service detail. His son has been condemned for suggesting that those willing to allow entrance to poorly vetted refugees should be willing to eat a handful of Skittles from a bowl where only a few of the candies are poisoned. Apparently on the part of liberals there is an expectation that those subjected to their totalitarian brand of social engineering are to be forbidden from speaking out against the consequences or implications of misguided policies.
Hillary Clinton is urging millennials to participate in a day of service to give to something larger than themselves. How about urging them to look for jobs and to pay their own way in life?
Frau Obama condemned birther propaganda as undermining her husband's regime. Did she ever speak out as forcefully against “that guy from their neighborhood” Bill Ayers whose subversive acts actually resulted in the destruction of government property? Does the First Lady condemn contemporary acts of subversion where businesses are vandalized and looted following unpopular police actions or trial verdicts not even involving these victimized merchants?
Isn't it also an insult to accuse a campaign of being insult-driven?
Did those now accusing Trump of bigotry for at one point questioning the legitimacy of President Obama's citizenship condemn Obama of bigotry for insisting that those residing in rural Pennsylvania bitterly clung to their God and their guns?
Regarding the imperative of evacuating from the path of the oncoming hurricane, President Obama insisted that property can always be rebuilt. Those confronted with FEMA regulations and prohibitions following the destruction of a dwelling might legitimately argue otherwise.
A CNN propagandist reminded Fox News broadcasters that they don't work for Donald Trump. Will he as deliberatively conscientious in directing a similar admonition to the moderator of the Vice Presidential debate that similarly she does not work for the Clinton campaign?
For purchasing advertising time on the Weather Channel ahead of the pending hurricane, the Clinton campaign is accused of attempting to benefit from fear and panic. When is this different than any other time? For without fear and panic, would politicians as an occupational class even exist. Will erectile dysfunction cures and feminine hygiene products be accused of attempting to grow their audience share during the crisis brought on by this natural calamity as well?
That's quite revealing in regards to the historic Donald Trump/Rosie O'Donnell spat that the take away from that was how horrible it was that Trump dared ridicule a WOMANNN's appearance (the term “woman” used loosely in regards to Rosie) rather than his suggestion free speech ought to be curtailed.
By Frederick Meekins
Sunday, October 09, 2016
Saturday, October 08, 2016
Belgian Bishop Urges Vatican To Extend Blessing To Gay Partnerships & Shack Ups
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Friday, October 07, 2016
Thursday, October 06, 2016
Wednesday, October 05, 2016
Tuesday, October 04, 2016
Monday, October 03, 2016
Sunday, October 02, 2016
Saturday, October 01, 2016
Celtic Cross Foundation Archbishop Returns To Ministry Following Major Surgery
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Friday, September 30, 2016
Thursday, September 29, 2016
Wednesday, September 28, 2016
Tuesday, September 27, 2016
Monday, September 26, 2016
Sunday, September 25, 2016
Cal Thomas Talks From Both Sides Regarding Trump
In a 7/22/2016 commentary transcript, Cal Thomas condemned Ted Cruz's Republican convention remarks as self-serving.
In those, the Texas Senator, instead of endorsing Donald Trump explicitly, urged the American people to vote their consciences.
It has yet to be explained how that message differed from that articulated by Trump's own daughter who revealed she votes individual rather than party.
If anyone knows self-serving, it is Cal Thomas.
In “Blinded By Might”, the mass communicator allegedly repented of his involvement with Moral Majority and that his fellow Christians ought to embrace a spirit of political pacificism in order to assuage his own conscience.
However, with the ascendancy of Donald Trump, Thomas certainly didn't mind contributing in the name of Christian values to an issue of National Review seeking to derail the Trump candidacy.
But with Trump triumphant, Thomas now goes out of his way to badmouth any conservative or Republican failing to march in lockstep or even question the direction in which this movement might be taking America.
Thomas often likes to point out his tenuous familial connection to Calvin Coolidge.
However, it seems the figure from political history he has the most in common with might be none other than Talleyrand
By Frederick Meekins
Saturday, September 24, 2016
Friday, September 23, 2016
Thursday, September 22, 2016
Wednesday, September 21, 2016
Tuesday, September 20, 2016
Loyalty To Family Ought To Trump Trump
According to a number of Facebook theologians, Ted Cruz's refusal or failure to endorse Donald Trump as the Republican presidential nominee wasn't simply bad manners at best or strategically imprudent at worst. Instead, such thinkers invoke this rhetorical incident to call into question the validity of the Senator's profession of faith as a Christian.
It is claimed that, earlier in the presidential campaign season, Ted Cruz promised to endorse whomever it was that voters (or moneyed secret societies dependent upon your view as to how this process is determined in the end) selected as the Republican candidate. At the time, it was believed that Donald Trump would never be triumphant and that this rhetorical stunt might be enough to forestall a third party bid on the part of the real estate tycoon that would likely result in Hillary Clinton winning the White House.
At the time, it seemed that Donald Trump and Ted Cruz might have had a considerable degree of compatibility. Some pundits and strategists even speculated that Cruz might have even made a good vice president on a ticket headed by Donald Trump.
Given Trump's New Yorker mentality, his preferred strategy consisted of repeatedly insulting his opponents into submission and compliance. By the time he got around to Cruz, it seems this verbal barrage could not be turned off.
A number of Trump's most scathing retorts against Cruz were actually aimed at the physical appearance of Cruz's wife Heidi and at Cruz's father for supposedly being part of the conspiracy to assassinate President Kennedy. For unlike Trump, Cruz apparently takes serious the clause in the traditional wedding vows about marriage being until death and not until the first sign of crows feet.
Yet it would seem surprisingly to the most thoroughgoing and rigorous of Christians that PR stunts along the campaign trail are a far more serious matter than promises made before God at the marriage altar or loyalty to family.
Apart from a situation resulting in profound criminality such as treason, terrorism, or an act that would result in discernible quantifiable harm to an individual, one's foremost loyalties ought to be to one's family rather than the state necessarily. Even much less is owed to an individual that hasn't even as of yet been elected to public office.
Ted Cruz might have promised to endorse whomever the Republican candidate was to be once the dust settled. However, that promise was made before Trump disparaged Cruz's family in some of the most visceral ways imaginable.
Yet as of much concern to the spiritually inclined ought to be the elevation of this incident at the Republican convention to the level of a litmus test by which Senator Cruz's profession of faith is judged valid or not.
There are a number of different interpretations as to the procedural mechanics by which an individual attains the state of salvation according to the various confessional traditions within the Christian faith. However, at the most fundamental, a Christian is someone that has professed faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for dieing upon the cross as payment for our sins and rising from the dead so that those that believe in Him might have eternal life in Heaven.
Nowhere in the historic creeds held by any legitimate denomination does it say anything about your mansion in the beatific beyond being forfeited as a result of renigging on your promise to endorse a particular presidential candidate should your relationship with this aspiring leader turn sour. Pietistic sticklers might snipe that Scripture dictates by someone's fruits that you will know a person and that faith without works is dead.
According to the concepts of the orders of creation and subsidiarity, for the smooth functioning of human society, God established certain spheres of authority to oversee the complexity of the world and that the authority closest to a particular concern ought to be the one to address the matter. As such, the loyalty that ought to be the strongest should be for immediate family such as one's spouse, children, parents, and siblings. In a properly balanced system, the loyalty and deference due a distant aspiring leader and even the offices which such figures seek ought to be minimal or perhaps even tentative at its most intense.
By conscious volition in terms of the marriage vows before God and men, the first loyalty of Ted Cruz is to his wife. Coming in at a close second is that to his father given that, from all indication, it seems that the two have an intact familial relationship. If anything, Ted Cruz's profession of faith should be called into question if he did not prioritize their honor by taking some kind of symbolic stand that realizes that, while there might not be any other electorally viable alternative to Hillary Clinton other than Donald Trump, in good conscience he cannot pledge fealty to the man.
The conspicuously devout that pride themselves on finding a Biblical text for nearly every life contingency will no doubt rush to the Old Testament and invoke the narrative of Jepthah as proof that the believer is obligated to abide by his promises no matter how outlandish. Jepthah in Judges 11:31 vowed that he would offer as a sacrifice the first thing he saw emerge from his domicile upon his return home if the Lord would grant him victory over the Ammonites.
It turned out that that would be his daughter. And to prove that he was a man of his word, Jepthah did kill her.
Religious enthusiasts will rejoice, “See! This is proof that Ted Cruz is obligated to fulfill his vow to Donald Trump and the Republican Party.” Maybe, maybe not. Perhaps those holding to this position ought to contemplate the implications of what they are advocating.
Jepthah made this vow to God. So are those critical of Cruz regarding this matter telling us that Trump is, in their view, God or deserving of the same unwavering loyalty that is owed to the Almighty?
Even in terms of the traditional wedding ceremony, the binding lifelong nature of that union is probably characterized as such more so because one swears this promise not so much to one's intended spouse as one is making this promise to and before a righteous and holy God. Since Donald Trump has been married three times with an undisclosed additional number of women before, during, and after each of these marriages, it is pretty safe to say that he does not rise to the same level of perfection as the triune Godhead.
Those that continue to insist that Ted Cruz is likely not a Christian or at least not a very good one need to be quite careful. For does not Scripture say that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God?
As such, does that not also include those leveling these kinds of accusations against Senator Cruz? If these critics continue to insist that they are without sin, does not I John 1:8 say of them that they are liars? If they are going to hold that the slightest shortcoming in the life of the professed believer is evidence of the likelihood that the individual is likely not a believer, might these types wallowing in self righteousness in regards to the Ted Cruz question be in danger of the hottest hellfire of all?
You aren't going to get through life without a few mistakes which theologians would categorize as sin. On the Day of Judgment would you rather stand before God having failed to uphold the honor of your wife and father or having failed to placate a presidential candidate that by that point probably doesn't even reside in the desired habitation of the Afterlife if he continues to insist that he has never done anything wrong in need of a Savior's forgiveness in the first place.
By Frederick Meekins
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