Below is the text of an email sent to the Israeli Ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren. It’s a short note of support and encouragement. It may not be much to counteract the snubs of the Obama Administration, but it’s something. After reading my short missive, if you too are inclined to write, then here’s the email of the Israeli Embassy: info@washington.mfa.gov.il

Dear Ambassador Michael Oren:

I wanted to take the time to convey my support for your nation amidst what can only be fairly described as an ongoing, consistently high state of existential threat. Israel is a free democracy in the middle of an area historically dominated by despots and extremists steeped in a death cult mentality. I, as an American, appreciate your country’s struggle to uphold the same values I too hold dear: life, liberty, prosperity, security, and peace.

I am also ashamed of the Obama Administration’s stance toward the state of Israel. To attempt some sort of neutral position in the Palestinian conflict is, in reality, to pick a side . . . and in the case of the Obama Administration, it’s the wrong one. Adopting a supposed neutrality in the face of great evil (and what else could you possibly call suicide bombers who think they’ll merit heaven through the slaughter of innocents?) is short sighted and plainly immoral.

Please also know that my support for Israel has nothing to do with religion or race. Here in the United States it’s embarrassingly common to be labeled either a racist or a religious zealot because of one’s support for Israel. It’s nothing but a cheap and juvenile attack meant to silence. In the United States, those who attack Israel are afraid of the truth, for it is not in their favor; hence, the slurs of “racist” and “religious zealot”. Mr. Ambassador, I support Israel because Israel is in the right and faces opponents whose debauchery is only matched by their ruthlessness. Race and religion have nothing to do with it. Again, I support your nation because it is a beacon of life and liberty standing athwart hostile forces who wish to enslave man to an ideology inimical to freedom.

Sincerely,

Mark R. Mailloux

Wisconsin, USA

An ancient ripple courses through millennia and becomes a tsunami. That ripple started long ago in an ideal place. An event occurred there that was nothing short of a cataclysmic revolt in which man preposterously declared that he is fully capable of determining what is truth and on his own terms. Human pride dared to try in vain to usurp all authority and crown itself king . . . self made kings are always delusional self made idiots. That was true then and it’s still true today.

That long ago folly has rippled through time, repeating itself in countless and varied ways. Its effect is always the same. It is a hardener of human hearts, transforming flesh and soul from Agape to cold stone. From time to time, the original ripple gains steam and becomes a tidal wave phenomena, sweeping up millions in its path. In hindsight, it’s often pretty easy to spot the particularly big and dangerous waves in history . . . oh for instance, there was that time when human beings born with greater pigmentation were declared as somehow less human; talk about vainly lording over truth and reality! What sufferings resulted from that arrogant folly!

Today is really not that much different. The ripple is still there. Human beings still insist on sitting in the big chair and declaring what is and is not truth. Hearts still petrify as a result. A thousand ways to experience sorrow is still the natural consequence, touching the lives of both the innocent and the guilty.

But, sorrow is a forge capable of melting even the hardest, stoniest, most petrified of human hearts. This is a truth that’s often completely missed. Here, I’ll give you an example of human pride, a tsunami, sorrow, and redemption:

There is a mother of 4 children, pregnant with another child. She is in the 12th week of gestation. The mother is told by a midwife that heart sounds do not appear to be present in the womb. That finding is later confirmed by ultrasound. The mother has miscarried and the 12 week old infant, her child, lies dead in her womb.

The parents know the deceased baby is a boy and have already named him Philip. They have to make one last medical and moral decision regarding Philip, who they affectionately refer to as Pippo. The boy, Pippo, must be removed from the womb. There are two ways to go about it. One would be much easier on the mother, but would destroy Pippo’s body. The other would be more painful, both physically and emotionally, but would grant Pippo’s parents a great and powerful grace . . . the ability to love in the face of sorrow and the ability to respectfully say goodbye to a beloved. The parents choose the more difficult and less traveled road. The deceased Pippo is born whole.

Pippo’s perfect beauty is appreciated. He is wrapped in swaddling cloth. He is placed in a basket beside a cross and he his eventually buried. Sorrow and mourning are in plentiful supply.

Just down the hall, at the same hospital, is another mother who has also miscarried. She is a much younger mother and her baby is much farther along. Unbearable grief, mountainous in its gravity, descends upon this other mother.  Some of the staff of the hospital, seeing the healing effect of Pippo’s mother’s decision, suggest the same for the young mother, who readily agrees.

This young mother’s physician is a 40-ish woman who is vehemently pro-abortion. She consents to perform the procedure in an effort to help alleviate the young mother’s sorrow. After all, if it brought some comfort to the mother of Pippo, as the nursing staff maintain, then it may just do the same for her grieving patient.

The pro-abortion physician made a strictly clinical choice. The humanity of the miscarried child was not a factor. The physician, after all, was contentedly surfing through life on the tsunami of the pro-abortion mentality, which is, of course, just another expression of that ancient ripple where man insists on being the sole judge of truth. In this case, the self-made kings have declared that the preborn are not human beings, but only mere products of conception.

The 40-ish, pro-abortion physician’s heart suffers from the natural consequences of the ancient ripple. It is stony and cold, but sorrow is, as already mentioned, a little recognized forge. In the sorrow of Pippo’s death and in the sorrow of her patient’s miscarriage, the pro-abortion physician’s hardened heart is softened. The physician, cataracted all these years by the ancient ripple, finally sees real truth . . . a truth that exists even outside of her own, individual humanity.

After the procedure, as the pro-abortion physician looked upon her patient’s deceased child and upon the grieving love of that child’s mother, the pro-abortion physician cried, shuddered, ran to her office, locked the door, and sobbed; all of this evidence that a heart of stone has been miraculously transformed into a heart of flesh. The pro-abortion physician is now a pro-life physician.

Sorrow and grief . . . as horribly painful as they truly are . . . are a consequence of that ancient ripple. These awful consequences remind us of the folly of human pride, but they also can be transformative, as was the case with the formerly pro-abortion physician. Was all this a stupid accident? Or, were the life, death, and the mourning of Pippo an example of mercy and the divine toppling of evil, taking even its consequences and making it into an opportunity for grace, forgiveness, and redemption?

News Source for This Story: Lifesitenews

Planned Parenthood (PP) of Southwestern Oregon will begin offering medication-induced abortions starting in March 2010. Cynthia Pappas, the Executive Director of PP worries about the impending retirement of physicians who currently perform surgical abortions. Medication-induced abortions are a way of adjusting for the growing dearth of physicians willing to surgically kill for a buck.

Pappas also explains that there are innovative, customer-oriented features of medication-induced abortions. Pappas stated that Planned Parenthood of Southwestern Oregon’s Board of Directors wants to:

“Provide women with an option for terminating a pregnancy in the comfort and privacy of home.”

How groundbreaking! How innovative!

Actually, how sadly barbaric . . .

For those of you unfamiliar with medication-induced abortions, this procedure uses drugs to terminate and then expel the fetus . . . that’s fancy medical talk for poisoning and then prematurely delivering the dead baby.

Medication-induced abortions are typically done after the 16th week of pregnancy and usually involve a hospital stay, especially for the “expelling” part of the procedure. One of 3 terribly painful . . .  to the preborn baby, that is . . . substances is injected into the amniotic fluid surrounding the baby: a saline solution, prostaglandin, or a chemical compound (urea). Medication is then given to jump start contractions. Josef Mengele, I am certain, is just green with envy from whatever corner of hell he currently calls home.

Planned Parenthood of Southwestern Oregon has apparently found a way to eliminate the hospital stay so that women may expel fetuses from the comfortable confines of home.

Oregon is a leading innovator in all things death . . . just when you think they can’t possibly top their assisted suicide initiative, along comes home-based, medication-induced abortions. What will they think of next?!

News Source

No, I don’t mean a possible case of diabetes and/or hypertension that may result from an over indulgent candy habit first launched on some long ago Valentine’s Day. And, I’m certainly not jumping on Michelle Obama’s bandwagon as she battles the national threat that is fat kids busily woofing down copious amounts of candy hearts on February 14. Instead, I’m talking about Planned Parenthood and Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health. These two bastions of the left are issuing their very own line of Valentine’s cards that celebrate abortion and promiscuous sex.

Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health are encouraging people to send their version of a Valentine’s card to pro-choice physicians or even your favorite abortionist. Their card is a simple heart on a white background with the words, “I love pro-choice physicians.” What better way is there to celebrate love than to celebrate the death of the preborn?

Planned Parenthood, on the other hand, is targeting non-married singles who engage in promiscuous sex. They are offering a condom themed line of cards that push an overarching safe sex message. The married and the monogamous usually don’t have to worry about STD’s. People who enjoy multiple partners and commitment-less sex on the other hand do. Not to worry though, Planned Parenthood (that “Parenthood” part really seems ironic right about now, doesn’t it?) supports your desire to bed down anyone or anything who consents, and if your condom should fail and you end up being punished (to borrow the famous words of Barack Obama) with a baby, then Planned Parenthood can help you with that as well. Planned Parenthood is here to serve your vice from soup to nuts (and, of course, make a nice, tidy buck whilst they’re at it too).

The celebration of the culture of death on Valentine’s Day is a full 180 degrees from the story of St. Valentine, a priest who was beaten with clubs and then beheaded on February 14, circa 270 A.D by the Romans for refusing to renounce his Christian faith. Tradition holds that before he died, he wrote a touching letter to a lady friend who had been particularly kind to him. Thus was born the Valentine’s card. St. Valentine is the patron saint of love, young people, the engaged, and happy marriages.

St. Valentine’s Day is meant to be a celebration of Agape, the supernatural love that is the stuff of Heaven and divinity.  Through God’s grace, when we love in such an ultimate and selfless way, we rise to our true eternal calling as beings created in the image and likeness of God. Planned Parenthood and Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health want Americans to instead celebrate the killing of innocent children and promiscuous, commitment-less sex. What a contrast to St. Valentine who is not rolling in his grave, but weeping from heavenly heights for a culture that would dare to celebrate love by celebrating death.

News Source: Lifesitenews.com

My home schooled children learn poems as part of their curriculum. In fact, they memorize them (an often neglected discipline that well trains the mind). When they’ve got their poems committed to memory, they do a little recital in front of the family. The one my 8 year old is currently working on is called, “The Flag Goes By” (Henry Holcomb Bennett). My son favored me with a sneak preview of the poem the other night at dinner, and upon listening to him recite the stanzas he had already mastered, I couldn’t help thinking about the deep meanings contained in that poem and the drastic contrasts to our current President. During the recitation of “The Flag Goes By”, the images that intruded into my mind . . . images that saddened me as a proud American . . . were the following:

• President Obama during the 2008 campaign with his hands folded neatly over his groin area as the National Anthem is played. All other Democratic candidates appearing on stage with Obama that day put their hands over their hearts.
• Obama refusing to wear a flag pin on his lapel during the presidential campaign of 2008.
• President Obama bowing to the King of Saudi Arabia (either that or making a condescending joke about King Abdullah’s height . . . Obama hates short people!).
• Obama bowing to the emperor of Japan.
• Obama bowing to the leader of a communist nation, China.
• Obama bowing to the mayor of Miami.

In other words, Obama has a habit of showing reverence to commies, tin pot potentates, and mayors who fit nicely into a multicultural theme. Obama unfortunately also has a habit (a very bad one) of merely tolerating our national symbols of flag and anthem. It would do Obama well then to follow the lead of my 8 year old child and study Henry Holcomb Bennett’s poem, “The Flag Goes By.”

Now, I fully realize that memorizing the poem might be too taxing for Obama, who I suspect is not the intellectual giant that the left has crowned him as. So, here’s my suggestion. Why not run “The Flag Goes By” on his teleprompter. And, do it often and daily. It would do President Obama some good to reflect on an America that really is astoundingly exceptional. If he learns this lesson well, then perhaps his hand will gravitate from his groin area to his heart the next time the National Anthem is played in his presence . . . perhaps he will even stand tall the next time he greets another commie or tin pot potentate. Perhaps.

Just in case President Obama has a hard time tracking down Henry Holcomb Bennett’s poem, I’ll go ahead and post it here, assuming the president is an avid reader of RedState (or much more likely, RedState being chock full of pro-life, gun toting, God clinging radicals, is on the watch list of the administration via Homeland Security . . . either way, maybe Obama will get wind of it.):

“The Flag Goes By” by Henry Holcomb Bennett

Hats off!
Along the street there comes
A blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums,
A flash of color beneath the sky:
          Hats off!
The flag is passing by!Blue and crimson and white it shines,
Over the steel-tipped, ordered lines.
          Hats off!
The colors before us fly;
But more than the flag is passing by.

Sea-fights and land-fights, grim and great,
Fought to make and to save the State:
Weary marches and sinking ships;
Cheers of victory on dying lips;

Days of plenty and years of peace;
March of a strong land’s swift increase;
Equal justice, right, and law,
Stately honor and reverend awe;

Sign of a nation, great and strong
Toward her people from foreign wrong:
Pride and glory and honor,–all
Live in the colours to stand or fall.

          Hats off!
Along the street there comes
A blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums;
And loyal hearts are beating high:
          Hats off!
The Flag is passing by!

 

President Obama, queue up that teleprompter!

The International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) just released a new report that they’ve titled, “Stand and Deliver.”

What’s the new report about?

Well, in the spirit of internationalism (since we’re dealing with The International Planned Parenthood Federation), we’ll let the Swedish pop band Abba answer . . . “Money, Money, Money.”

The IPPF is demanding that governments and religious institutions throughout the world get in lockstep with the enormously successful sexual revolution . . . you know, the revolution that started in the hippie heyday of the 1960’s, and 40+ years later, has brought us so many societal benefits (broken marriages, fatherless children, easy access to pornography, abortion, explosion in STD’s, low birth rates, etc.). What’s not to like, right?

The IPPF would like all governments and religions (especially you, Pope Benedict!) to recognize that children as young as ten are “sexual beings” in need of comprehensive and mandatory (home schooling radicals take note!) sexual education. And, don’t you go muddying the waters with any of that abstinence stuff. The IPPF is strictly interested in helping young people get their groove on . . . and then providing abortion services when said groove has consequences, which translates into more “Money, Money, Money” in the IPPF coffers.

Interestingly, the report (Stand and Deliver) specifically targets religion. The IPPF is encouraging uncooperative religions to “find a way of explaining and providing guidance on issues of sex and sexual relationships among young people, which supports rather than denies their experiences and needs.” In other words, change your doctrine to accommodate loveless, commitment-less, brute animal sexuality among tweens and teens.

According to IPPF, folks like Pope Benedict (you old stick in the mud!) need to get hip with the rapidly evolving (or more accurately, devolving) sexual revolution. Look, maybe I can help bridge the gap between the Pope Benedicts of the world and the wise (and affluent . . . Ca-ching!) IPPF. It works, as well known by the cool heads in IPPF, like this: girls under the age of 10 are sexualized through media and play. For example, the popular Bratz dolls (and Baby Bratz for the toddler set) teach young girls that dressing and acting like a prostitute is a really fun thing to do! The girls and boys are eventually funneled into MTV, where they are more fully exposed to an anything-goes, loveless, commitment-less, brute animal sexuality. Before you know it, the tweens and teens are starring in documentaries like Oral Sex is the New Goodnight Kiss, where they brag about going to sex parties and exchanging sex for money (aka, prostitution). You feeling liberated yet? I sure do and so should you Pope Benedict, you old curmudgeon, party pooper! The IPPF just wants to help all those sex partying young folks with education, contraceptives, and yes, abortions too (well, especially abortions . . . that’s where the pay dirt is!).

You see Pope Benedict, when you go preaching that we are all created in the image and likeness of God and that sex is a material reflection of the oneness of the Trinity and that it belongs in the Sacrament of marriage, which itself is a greater reflection of God and a training ground in selfless, supernatural love (Agape) . . . when you, Pope Benedict, talk about abstinence before marriage and honor and commitment, you’re, in effect, throwing a wet towel on middle school sexbots and seriously hampering IPPF’s revenues . . . so stop it! Besides, have you ever considered how all that guilt trip stuff will negatively affect little Sally’s and little Billy’s self esteem? That’s on your head old man!

The solution according to IPPF? Religions should get hip with the sexual revolution and either discard or adjust any doctrines that conflict with it. Yea, that’s the ticket.

The IPPF says, “Stand and Deliver,” and I reply, “Return to sender.”

Source of News Story: Lifesitenews.com

Many here on RedState participated in Tea Party protests, much to the chagrin of the mainstream media, the Obama administration, and the usual cadre of leftist blowhards. Tea Party participants have been maligned with gross sexual innuendos (e.g. “tea baggers”) and have been labeled with the typical (yawn!) leftist straw man attacks . . . tea party activists are racist; they’re dumb (as in, “you guys just don’t understand that the government only has your best interests in mind!”); they’re knuckle dragging, separatist militia types; etc.

Well now, we can add comic book hero Captain America to the list of those who are casting a suspicious eye toward Tea Party activists; yes, the same Captain America who fought Nazis and the uber-villainous Red Skull.  In a recent issue of Marvel Comics’ Captain America series, the ultimate red, white, and blue hero is busy investigating (obviously at great peril) the latest threat to national security . . . you. Forget about Islamic terrorists and all that 9-11 stuff. The real danger to the Obama, hopey-changey socialistic utopia is none other than you. And, Captain America is going to do something about it! By the way, Captain America also thinks you’re a racist.

Hunting Muses, the blog, reported this story and even provided some pics of the Captain America comic. Take a look at some of the comic’s pages here, here, and here.

This is yet another example of the culture war being waged in all avenues of life: politics, religion, media, entertainment, food, fashion, public schools, colleges, etc. Politics is certainly where the buck stops. Those in office have the power to do much good and to do much damage. However, there’s a lot that precedes the election of someone to office. People . . . voters . . . live in a culture, not a vacuum. Who they end up loving and supporting can be nothing else but a function of the waters they swim in. Currently, those waters are a fever swamp of leftist ideologies.

This seemingly innocuous Captain America comic is, in reality, a grossly effective weapon of the leftists, for it captures the hearts and minds of children. It injects them with their message in the most insidious of ways, by associating those ideas with what children love: heroes and the fight between good and evil.

Also note that the concept of good in an age of moral relativism can be molded into whatever suits a given agenda, and the leftists have a great and dangerous appreciation of this. Quite simply, moral relativism is an M-16 in the hands of a leftist, utilitarian foot soldier hell bent on transforming the body politic by first remaking the culture.

Don’t shrug off the damage done when young, impressionable eyes, just yearning for acceptance and a feeling of belonging, read a modern Captain America comic book.

New Reality Show Concept:

Show Title: “Puppy Dirt Nap”

Synopsis: Three puppies are dropped off at an animal shelter. Only one will make it out alive, adopted by a loving family. As for the other two? It’s the eternal dirt nap for those bow wows!

And, you the viewing audience gets to decide which one of the three puppies goes home with a brand spanking new family! This is cutting edge reality TV. Three little pooches compete in a winner-takes-all cute contest in which their lives literally depend on just how sassy they can be when chasing a squeaky chew toy!

Now that’s a pretty appalling concept for a reality TV show, isn’t it? I could literally see 90% of celebrities crying out in protest. There’d sure be some organizing going on if such a show were ever to make it from concept to reality. PETA would certainly get involved, and who knows, maybe even the president. If he’s got time for the beer summit and picking up Nobel prizes in Europe, then why not a cabinet level effort to save all three pup pups?

But, let’s face it. The Puppy Dirt Nap reality show would never, thank God, make it beyond concept. Network and cable executives would crush the idea and brand the fellow pitching it as an absolute immoral kook.

So, that makes it all the more deplorable that a web-based reality show called, “Bump,” is actually appearing on the Internet. This quasi-reality show features 3 pregnant women. I call it “quasi-reality” because the women aren’t really pregnant. They’re actresses portraying three different life stories. The title of the show, “Bump,” refers to the element of their roles in which they are pregnant. Over the course of a season, viewers will be treated to their banter and depravities. At the end of the season, viewers will get to vote on which woman will get her bump removed via an abortion.

This is no joke. This web series is actually airing right now. And, it is exponentially more depraved than my fictional Puppy Dirt Nap reality show. For God’s sake, the viewers and fans of this show will be voting on the life and death of a child . . . in the context of entertainment! Stand aside Romans of old with your lions and Christian victims; you ain’t got nothing on us.

Note: Kenny Solomon already well covered this topic in a post here, but I was so sickened by the idea of Bump, I decided to post my own take on it. The more voices crying foul, the better.

In one short year, the Democrats have gone from the heights of electoral bliss to shocking defeats, culminating (thus far) with the election of Scott Brown to fill Ted ‘Chappaquiddick’ Kennedy’s old seat.  In no uncertain terms, the radical excesses of Barack Obama’s socialistic plans to transform America into another European-like basket case were instrumental in turning the tide of public opinion again him and his fellow Dems.  Yes, indeed, there are the suicidal policy initiatives like health care, but maybe . . . just maybe . . . Americans are beginning to see what lies beneath many Democrats (especially so the leadership: Obama, Pelosi, Reid).  And, by the term, “lies beneath,” I am speaking of who they are, not what they stand for.

“Wait just a gosh-darn moment, Mailloux . . . Are you about to demonize the other side?  Are you about to not only call the other side wrong in policy, but also bad in personage as well?”

Yes, a thousand times “YES!”  That is exactly what I’m doing.

Let’s start off by reminding ourselves of the shocking number of times ACORN was caught aiding and abetting who they thought was a pimp interested in setting up a human trafficking operation in international underage girls.  Recognize the sorry fact that ACORN didn’t seem to flinch when someone waltzes through their door, identifies himself as a pimp, and shares his plans to exploit children.  Stop a moment and think about that . . . why weren’t they shocked?  It’s because, it’s an indigenous part of life in inner city slums; that’s why.  Teenage prostitution is no less odd in ACORN’s turf than is a children’s soccer game in the suburbs.  According to the U.S. Department of Justice’s report to Congress in 2004 (U.S. Government Efforts to Combat Trafficking in Persons in Fiscal Year 2003, John Ashcroft), there are an estimated 14,500 – 17,500 foreign nationals trafficked into the United States each and every year.  Further, the report estimated that about 200,000 American children are at risk for trafficking into the sex industry.  Couple that finding with the explosion in Internet pornography, and you can well surmise that this is not a rarity in our inner cities.  ACORN knows . . . how the hell could they not?!  And, most damning of all, ACORN has no problem with it.

ACORN is one of the vaunted community organizations filled with community organizers.  Our president is of course the most famous community organizer of them all.  He and his supporters cited his community organizing as one of his great credentials.  Obama swam in the ACORN waters during his time in Chicago, and when you swim in sewers (referring to ACORN), then you too will stink.  ACORN knows what goes on in its turf.  They have willfully exchanged morality for power.  Obama was cozy with ACORN.  Birds of a feather do flock together.  Ergo, Obama is not only a foolish, misguided, unqualified politician with socialist dreams, but he’s also a rank opportunist with almost no moral fiber in his being.  Yes, indeed, I’m saying he’s a bad man.

Then, there are his cohorts, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi.  They are high level politicians privy to information that everyday Americans are not.  They are in the know.  They have staffs at their beckoning who do the homework for them.  They have no excuse for ignorance. They are not only willing accomplices, but they are eager ones too.

The Obama-Reid-Pelosi team knows the reality of ACORN.  They simply don’t care beyond the “what’s-in-it-for-me” angle.  They knew the harm that would be done to aspiring inner city youths when they cut off funds to the D.C. voucher program.  They didn’t care . . . the teacher’s union beast had to be fed, for this beast keeps them in power.  The Obama-Reid-Pelosi team knew the kind of fiend they put into place as the safe schools czar, Kevin Jennings.  They know the hideous toll of a million abortions a year, but they consider it a pittance for the support of radical feminists and Planned Parenthood.  The team fully realizes the devastation wrought on the African American community through entitlements and a ground in mentality of perpetual racial victimhood.  They don’t care a whit about the untold suffering.  They, instead, want to ensure that an enslaved voting bloc remains enslaved.

The list of moral outrages can go on and on and on.  Maybe, just maybe (from my keyboard to God’s ear), Americans are beginning to wake to the realization that the Democrats aren’t just lousy in policy, but bereft of real morality.  Maybe Americans are getting wise to the fake platitudes of Democrats.  Maybe Americans are coming to the accurate conclusion that the Democrats’ so-called populism is really nothing more than a thin veneer covering their elitism.

To borrow a phrase once published in a newspaper regarding the existence of Santa Claus, and to use it instead to verify the existence of true evil, rather than the existence of good, I say:

Yes, Virginia, there really are monsters among us.

And I, for one, am calling them out.  Furthermore, I pray that America receives the equivalent of moral Lasik surgery and begins to see the Dems for what they’ve truly become.  I believe, with much hope, that America’s recent rejection of the Dems is evidence of a visceral reaction to the Dems’ immorality. That visceral reaction should rightfully blossom into full awareness of who Obama, Reid, and Pelosi really are.

Hollywood considers you a magpie. If it’s shiny and glossy enough, they figure that you’ll scamper after it and claim it as priceless treasure. And, just like the magpie, Hollywood presumes that you too have the equivalent of a bird brain.

Hollywood has a dual purpose in their product. They are to entertain and they are to socially engineer the public. You, the public, pay a steep ticket price, enjoy a little eye candy, and are expected to walk away re-educated in far left doctrines; it’s the modern equivalent of “a little bit of sugar makes the medicine go down.”

The new blockbuster film Avatar is a shining example of a magpie film . . . glossy enough to make you pick it up and embrace it for two and a half hours and chock full of leftist doctrines and eco-worship.

The peace loving alien beings of the movie Avatar live on Pandora. They are called the Na’vi and are in a state of harmony with a robust environment . . . not a single plastic Wal-Mart bag or disposable diaper in sight. The Na’vi are sitting atop a valuable natural resource called unobtainium, which is probably derived from the word unobtainable . . . get it? . . . Yea, it’s that hokey.

Every movie needs a bad guy and in the case of Avatar, the bad guy is humanity. Earth has been depleted of its resources by stupid, ravenous man. A greedy corporation back on Earth has put together a group of mercenaries composed of former US Marines. Their mission is to get the unobtainium on Pandora, peaceful nature loving aliens be damned!

So, let’s see what we got here:

• Peace loving, non-human people living in perfect unison with an awe inspiring perfect environment. It’s an eco-worship message delivered in CGI 3D.
• Greedy human beings who rape their environment
• Greedy corporations who enable greedy human beings to rape their environment
• Decidedly peace hating former US Marines acting as mercenaries . . . the classic US Military is the bad guy message
• An unprovoked attack to exploit another’s resources . . . sort of a sci-fi version of blood for oil

Avatar is a veritable check list of far left ideology. In exchange for a little eye candy, you get a Clockwork Orange dose of the exact same dribble contained in the pages of the NY Times.

Who wants some popcorn?

There are even vast amounts of lost souls who are experiencing post-Avatar depression! They walk away from this movie hating their own humanity and longing to commune with a living eco-god as do the fictional Na’vi. Al Gore, eat your heart out!

For example, here’s one fellow who wrote about his post Avatar depression on some Avatar fan forum:

“When I woke up this morning after watching Avatar for the first time yesterday, the world seemed … gray. It was like my whole life, everything I’ve done and worked for, lost its meaning. It just seems so … meaningless. I still don’t really see any reason to keep … doing things at all. I live in a dying world.”

The life of a godless eco-worshipping, enviro-nut must be nothing but utter misery. After all, their very act of living exploits and pollutes the planet. When they eat . . . when they breathe . . . heck, whenever they pass gas . . . they consume resources and/or contribute in a personal way to Anthropogenic Global Warming. If this is how you see reality, then how can you not be downtrodden after seeing Avatar? If you are confused enough to believe that the environment, a mere part of creation, is the Creator, then how can you not be filled with sorrow at the prospect of deicide?

Personally, I haven’t seen the movie. And, I don’t intend to see it. The ticket price is better spent elsewhere. I’d rather rent a film like Cinderella Man that celebrates virtue and the value of family, even in the face of great hardship. Better yet, the cash that would have been spent on seeing Avatar could be used to benefit our fellow man in the spirit of charity (Food for the Poor is a good option) or could be used to dismantle the Democratic super majority in the senate by donating to the Scott Brown campaign in Massachusetts. “Don’t feed the animals” is good advice when it comes to the Hollywood beast.

Is the Democratic Party positively deadly to women? Should the Democrats come with a warning label that reads something to the effect of the following?

“Participation in and/or support of the Democratic Party may endanger the health and welfare of women both in the United States and abroad.”

Well, to use a popular phrase of the day, “Let’s connect the dots” and see.

We all remember the proposal to cheap out on mammograms for women over 40. Common sense dictates that there will likely be a higher incidence of missed cancers, some of which would lead to the untimely deaths of women . . . sisters, mothers, and wives. Government controlled rationing of health care, after all, tends to do that sort of thing (witness Canada and England).

And recently, there’s another dot that’s entered the picture. A line can and should be drawn to it as well. That dot is an April 2009 scientific study, coupled with a reversal from a former critic.

Jessica Dolle and fellow researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center looked at the relationship between triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) and abortion, as well as oral contraceptives. The researchers found significant and meaningful relationships. First of all, please note that TNBC is a particularly deadly form of cancer; the survival rate is very poor for women under age 45. The study showed an alarming 40% increase in risk for TNBC among women who have had an abortion. The increased risk of TNBC skyrockets to 270% for women who used oral contraceptives before the age of 18 and 320% among women who have used oral contraceptives in the last one to five years.

The study also included a significant reversal by Dr. Louise Brinton who was a well known critic of the relationship between breast cancer and abortion. In 2003, Brinton, a U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) researcher, was principle in organizing an NCI workshop which basically pooh-poohed the abortion-breast cancer link. At the time, the workshop pontificated that it was “well established” that abortion is not at all connected to higher risk of breast cancer. This, of course, was a boon to the pro-abortion crowd and Planned Parenthood. It turns out Dr. Brinton and the NCI were wrong. And, to Dr. Brinton’s credit, in the new study by Jessica Dolle et al., she now admits that there is a relationship. As an aside, Dr. Brinton is certainly a vast step up from Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW) scientists who insist on clinging to their beliefs despite plenty of evidence to the contrary. In Dr. Brinton’s case, evidence trumped opinion; good for her.

And speaking of evidence, good science requires repetition of findings. Enter studies from scientists in Turkey and (ironically) China that also show a significant and meaningful statistical relationship between abortion and increased risk of breast cancer.

As one connects the dots I’ve mentioned here with a veritable dot matrix of other shameful policies (e.g. Obama’s reversal of the Mexico City Policy), a clear picture of the modern Democratic Party emerges . . . and it ain’t pretty. First off, the supposed party of science, the Democrats, is anything but. They’re wrong on AGW and they’re wrong on the link between abortion and breast cancer. What the Democrats are is virulently agenda driven, science be damned.

Connecting the dots also produces a shockingly ugly picture of the Democrats’ commitment to the welfare of women. Ironically, the party with the most dedicated radical feminists is also the party that is deadliest to women. That’s an Orwellian absurdity that’s hard to top.

Heck, if you didn’t know better, it would almost seem that the Democrats are actively competing with Communist China for the title of who’s deadliest to women. The Chinese government has their one child policy which has lead to massive selective abortions of female preborn persons. And the Democrats? Well, they have health care reform, anthropogenic global warming, Hollywood, and Planned Parenthood. The Democrats use different, more subtle tools, but the effect is the same . . . deadly to women.

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That is, a spiritual cancer.

Abortion not only destroys the life of an unborn human being (or already born in cases where the infant survives a partial birth abortion), it also destroys the spiritual well being of the mother.

• Nightmares
• Sleep disorders
• Alcohol and other drug problems
• Depression
• Low self-esteem
• A sense of alienation
• Anger

These are among just some of the aftermaths of abortion suffered by women who have received this supposedly safe procedure.

No amount of psycho-babble, you’re OK, I’m OK therapy will ultimately bring peace to the women who suffer post-traumatic symptoms from their abortions. Trying to convince these suffering women that it was the right thing to do will not alleviate guilt, anger, regret, and all else that metastasizes after an abortion. And, it won’t work, simply put, because it’s a lie. It wasn’t a just and moral thing to do.

The only real cure is two-fold. The first part is old-fashioned repentance . . . to recognize that a grave wrong has been committed and to truly have a contrite heart. The second part is the mercy of God who is ultimate love in and of Himself. God is the only physician that can bring peace to a patient suffering the after effects of an abortion, for the host of psychological difficulties suffered is symptomatic of primarily an underlying spiritual cancer and not a physical malady.

Project Rachel is a network of professional counselors and priests who offer Christian counseling to women suffering post abortion traumatic syndrome. The name of the organization is taken from Jeremiah 31: 15 – 1.

In Ramah is heard the sound of moaning,
of bitter weeping!
Rachel mourns her children,
she refuses to be consoled
because her children are no more.

Thus says the LORD:
Cease your cries of mourning,
wipe the tears from your eyes.
The sorrow you have shown shall have its reward…
There is hope for your future.

That piece of Scripture really does pretty much say all that needs to be said concerning the motives and mission of Project Rachel; it is a mission of Mercy.

With over 36 million abortions since Roe, there may just be someone close to you who suffers as a result of her abortion. Further, that someone may be relying on the snake oil of pro-abortion counselors who try to convince their client that her guilt is baseless. The real medicine awaits with organizations like Project Rachel.

Another Christmas has come and gone. At the darkest time of the year, we celebrated the birth of the light of the world. We immersed ourselves in church, family, and traditions. Then suddenly enough, Christmas was over and we returned to our routines . . . and we tend to regard them as just that – the mundane trappings of everyday life. The magic of the season really does seem gone.

The magic of Christmas, of course, was never Santa Claus or even the gleam in a young child’s eye as he eagerly awaits Christmas morn. The magic of Christmas is the birth of the person of Jesus Christ, true God and true man. His perfect fidelity to and love for the Father, culminating in His sacrifice, enabled humanity to share in His divinity through a new covenant. No longer are we powerless slaves to sin. We are brothers to Jesus. We are sons to God. We are the bride of the divine bridegroom. And, all of these titles speak of one thing. We are kin to God . . . we are family to Him. This astonishing fact should flavor our appreciation of Christmas far more than memories of eggnog and fruit cake.

And, many, many folks did indeed think those very thoughts during Advent and all the way through Christmas day; “Jesus is the reason for the season,” was a sign seen on many a lawn. But, here it is, weeks later. The tree is down and the decorations are put away for another year. If the magic feels gone, then, as is commonplace with feelings, you are being misled. The magic has just begun, but it is up to you to let that magic in or shut it out.

Magic, by definition, is an apparent suspension/violation of natural laws. In other words, magic appears to be supernatural; a rabbit, for instance, shouldn’t simply appear out of an empty hat.

Human beings seem to be inclined toward magic, but only to the extent where we are in full control. We all know that a magician’s tricks are simply illusions; there’s a rational explanation for them and in that, there is comfort. Other human beings indulge their fascination with magic by dabbling in the occult. But again, the attraction of the occult is that the human supposedly wields the power over the magic. The same goes for the mass appeal of wizard stories . . . humans are in control. Magic as a suspension/violation of material reality is fun as long as we hold the wand.

Magic in the framework of humility, on the other hand, is scary stuff and we turn away from it in groves. I can’t help but be reminded of the famous painting by Warner Sallman that depicts Christ knocking on the closed door to a cottage. The door symbolizes the door to the human heart . . . your human heart. Very tellingly, the painting features an omission that at first blush appears to be a mistake on the part of the artist. The door lacks a handle, a latch, or a door knob. It’s not a mistake though by the artist. It was deliberate. It symbolizes something quite important: Christ is knocking and he brings a perpetual gift of boundless grace. The Giver extends the gift, but only the receiver can accept it. Christ will not kick the door in and there’s no knob for him to turn. Only you can open the door . . . even just a crack will do for starters.

So then, why the reluctance of so many to throw the door wide open?

Christ brings real magic (by way of analogy, I am speaking here of the gift of God’s grace), but there’s no telling what exactly that magic will do. Therein is the element of humility. I don’t control the magic. You don’t control the magic. Only Christ does. He’s the only one with a wand around here. And rest assured, that magic will have real affects on your reality, but alarmingly, you simply don’t know where it will take you, what you will become, or what trials/crosses will be encountered along the way. There’s no controlling it. There’s only trust and a lifetime of fiats . . . as in Mary’s famous words to the angel, “Be it unto me according to thy word.”

Every fiat is an opening of your heart’s door to Christ in the contexts of trust and humility. Sin, on the other hand, is a closing of that door. Life then is a tug of war, fought in the moment of the present, on the door to the human heart and you primarily combat none other than yourself. For those most distant from God, the door will seem to weigh tons; there is much that must be jettisoned before that door moves with greater ease. Happily and mercifully though, the closer to God one grows, the lighter the door becomes . . . and consequently, the more changed you become (real, supernatural magic!).

As we return to what seems like the mundane routines of daily life, keep that image of Christ knocking on the knob-less door omnipresent in your mind . . . that alone takes discipline, which of course is good for the spiritual life. And then, trust God with your own fiat . . . your own, “be it done to me according to your will.” Learn to trust the magic (grace) wielded by God. Even in times of apparent hardship, that grace will both sustain you and transform you. In the family of God, there’s no such thing as the mundane. You can count on that whether you are serving the poor in the slums of Calcutta or making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for your three year old. He makes all things new.

And He that sat upon the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said unto me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.”  And He said unto me, “It is done! I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the Water of Life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. (Rev 21: 5 – 7)

Finally, why this sort of message on a primarily political website? Because, before politics, before nation, before even family, there is one’s duty to God. If one is not attentive here first, then all else will suffer more dire disorder. By way of analogy, before you clean up the neighborhood, you must first start with your own home and your own yard . . . to remove the log in your own eye before removing the splinter in your brother’s eye. Your relationship with God comes first . . . even before politics. Is that relationship best described as looking to God as directly as possible in worship, love, and obedience? In truth, we are all pivoted away from God to one degree or another, up to and including 180 degrees opposite Him. The more we turn from Him and ignore that knock on the door, the more we risk losing not just the next election, but joy Himself.

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him and he with Me” (Rev 3:20)

A happy and blessed new year to the RedState community.

In the ancient Incan civilization, it was thought that the sun required human sacrifice in order to sustain itself. Nature wanted human blood and the Incan priests were willing to oblige by sacrificing thousands for the cause.

Fast forward centuries and we find a modern day repetition of old-time Incan religion. Yep, as the old sayings go, “there’s nothing new under the sun,” and, “what goes around, comes around.” These days, however, nature is either going by a new name or distilled to simpler titles. Nature is sometimes referred to as “The Gaia Hypothesis”; or for the reductionist adherents of the Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW) cult, the “Earth” or just the “environment” will do quite nicely. No matter what moderns call it, when they decided to worship it, it boils down to a god. The Incas had their Inti (the sun god) and current day enviro-religionists have the Gaia Hypothesis. So much for originality.

But, where are the twenty first century priests? The ones who are willing to blood let humans for the good health of Gaia? Well, look no further than the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF). Upon the release of their annual performance report for 2008-09, Executive Director Gill Greer stated that IPPF would like to expand into areas like population dynamics and climate change. Gill Greer intends to steer IPPF into the AGW cult by fulfilling one of the new religion’s doctrines . . . much, much less people makes for a healthier Earth (Gaia, nature, environment, Inti, etc.). Instead of fattening up Inti with human blood, Gill Greer is going to put Gaia on diet. It’s the environment’s version of the South Beach Diet . . . lots of protein in the form of aborted human beings will, according the to the AGW cultists and Priestess Gill Greer, make for a leaner, meaner Mother Earth.

It’s also a great new potential revenue stream for IPPF in terms of donations and funding as readily admitted by IPPF Executive Director (and Chief Priestess), Gill Greer. Hey, priestesses gotta eat, right?

And, just in case anyone out there doesn’t think Gill Greer and her IPPF aren’t the most suitable clergy for the bloodletting part of the AGW religion, Gill Greer comes with a formidable resume. Any competition will shrink in shame when they hear these numbers! From IPPF’s annual report (2008-09), IPPF managed to nearly double their abortions between 2007 and 2008. Their worldwide total for 2008-09 was an impressive 1,134,549 abortions; just repackage that statistic as population dynamics in the context of climate change and bingo! You’re the Ma-Bell of AGW religionist population reduction . . . a veritable monopoly.

Furthermore, IPPF temples are conveniently located throughout the world. Instead of robed vestments, their priests and priestesses wear surgical scrubs and don business suits. The temples are temperature controlled for comfort and the sacrifices are sterile. Gill Greer’s got the infrastructure and the presentation, and she’s inviting all AGW religionists to come and worship in her IPPF temples . . . and don’t forget to bring your checkbook!

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The word honor can take on several definitions. Merriam-Webster online provides ten possible definitions among which are:

1. Reputation, as in someone’s good name

2. Some privilege, like dining with a dignitary

3. A person of superior standing; for example, a judge

4. Chastity and purity

5. Integrity, as in honoring a commitment

Honor has a lot to do with marriage as a sacrament. The particular definition of honor that pertains to marriage is the one about integrity and having the wherewithal to both recognize and then keep a commitment. Unfortunately, the meaning of honor with respect to marriage has been diluted nearly to the point of irrelevancy, thanks to the handiwork of the sexual revolution.

Make no mistake. We are born with obligations . . . commitments that we are expected to keep, but are free to reject. For instance, we are obligated (a commitment, if you will) to worship the Lord our God. We are also under an obligation to look to God as the author and embodiment of truth and then to obey Him. He is Lord and we are not. We have a commitment to do what ought to be done according to God’s moral order. We, however, repeatedly and pathetically fail, but that doesn’t mean the obligation/commitment is any less real. It just means that without God, we are hopeless.

In the Sacrament of Marriage, the supernatural bursts into the natural world. That, after all, is precisely what a Sacrament is. It’s a material expression of a supernatural reality. In the case of marriage, the union of man and wife is nothing less than a material expression of the Holy Trinity. Yes, it really is that fantastic . . . too good to be true, yet it is.

In three beautiful ways, marriage reflects the Trinity.

Just as God is a unity, so is the union of marriage. God is 3 persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) in one divine nature. In marriage, the two human beings, both made in the image and likeness of God, become one flesh . . . especially so in the intimacy of sex.

Marriage is also a training ground where love goes from Eros (the form of love that’s inherent and native to the material world) to Agape (the form of love that is inherent to the Trinity . . . which is like the very atmosphere of Heaven). Precisely because we are made in the image and likeness of God, we are capable, with God’s grace, to love supernaturally . . . a love that is truly perfect and selfless. When St. Francis of Assisi famously kissed a leper, he was not in the grips of Eros, for Eros would turn away from the horror of a living human being draped in rotting flesh. Instead, St. Francis was in the grips of God and experiencing Agape. He saw past the disease and to the loveliness of a human soul indelibly stamped with the Imago Dei. The vocation of marriage enables this kind of love, just as a baseball stadium enables a baseball game; it’s the most suitable kind of environment.

Marriage also mirrors God in its fertility for life. From marriage come children. From God comes all life, which is an activity that God engages in aplenty. When man and woman unite in the marital embrace, they do nothing short of participating in bringing about new and immortal life by our Creator, God.

So, in brief, I’ve attempted to explain why marriage is so unique and special. Now, I want to point out a reason why it’s currently so damaged and threatened as an institution.

The sexual revolution has instilled in us a notion that premarital sex is A-OK, perfectly normal, and a good trial run for compatibility before marriage. We have fallen for that snake-oil lie, hook, line, and sinker. In truth, pre-marital sex hampers a healthy marriage as sure as blindness hampers the successful navigation of an automobile.

Here’s how: Because, in short, premarital sex is a blatant lie using the language of the body and the breaking of a commitment. Thus, anyone thoroughly engaging in it handicaps the health of their future marriage.

The commitment part is difficult to fully appreciate as we are horse-blinded by time. We’re stuck in it. We can’t change the past and can’t know the future. But, we are still obligated to commitments even when they are future ones. For example, even though we are consciously aware of only right now, this very instant . . .  today . . . we are nonetheless obligated to worship the Lord our God tomorrow and to keep his commandments. The future commitment is no less real or binding than the past or the present. Our limited perspective doesn’t change the reality of the commitment, nor its gravity, nor its application to every moment of our lives.

If marriage is your vocation in life . . . in other words, if that is your best training ground in Agape . . . then your commitment to your future spouse doesn’t begin when you say “I do.” Rather, it has always been there. Premarital sex trashes that commitment, even if marriage is years away and you haven’t even met your one and only. Your fallen self is stuck in time, but God is not, nor is his Sacrament, the institution of marriage.

Pre-marital sex is also a lie using the language of the body. This truism was beautifully explained in the writings of the late Pope John Paul II concerning the Theology of the Body. Just as you can lie with words, you can lie with the intimacy of the body. Premarital sex, in effect, says, “I am committed to you . . . the two shall become one flesh . . . and I love you not in mere Eros, but in Agape,” but it doesn’t really mean it. It’s a lie. The real message of pre-marital sex is that, “I do not honor commitments, but I do lust for bodily pleasures. You have a body that I can pleasure myself with, but please, do care to check your soul, especially that Imago Dei thingy at the door to the bedroom. Thanks.”

That sounds pretty harsh, but lying is typically not a pretty thing, especially when it’s done sans words and instead with the intimate aspects of the human body.

This sort of a message about chastity before marriage in order to shore up eventual marriages is, these days, quite foreign and exotic. It has been made strange by the sexual revolution’s wicked trick of transforming hedonism and Utilitarianism into virtue, reason, and healthy habits. Satan is many things, but an idiot isn’t one of them.

Reminding people about honor and truth and how that ties into the commitment of marriage will make for healthier marriages and stronger families. And, it’s the family that’s the building block of a healthy society, family by family, brick by brick. If the bricks are soft and weak, the foundation will surely crumble.

This diary is intended for conservatives of faith. If you’re of the atheistic bent or an agnostic, you’ll likely reject nearly everything I’ve written. If all of reality is only what’s materially before you, then speaking of honoring future, divinely mandated commitments does not make for a powerful argument. If however you’re a Christian, then it does and it should. And, too many Christians, thanks to the sexual revolution, have been fooled into thinking that premarital sex is no big deal. Au contraire.

A series of recent events strikes me as being much like a quilt; there is a common thread running through it. Here are the events:

Event #1 – Al Gore is forced to admit that his confident assertion that all arctic ice will soon melt is not based on science, but instead on his own personal belief . . . in other words, a statement of faith.

Event #2 – The hacked emails from the University of East Anglia’s Climate Research Unit, which has led to the Climategate scandal: To perpetuate the Anthropogenic Global Warming myth as genuine, best-practice science, scientists have been forced to abandon science in favor of faith (the data doesn’t show it, but we believe it anyway) and, strictly for the benefit of mankind, they also had to lie.

Event #3 – A Canadian newspaper recently editorialized a helpful suggestion to combat AGW. Diane Francis of the National Post recommended that the entire world follow the example of China in its one child policy. The article by Francis went on to praise all the benefits to China resulting from its one child policy. Francis conveniently forgot to tell you how difficult it is for young Chinese men to find a suitable bride. It isn’t because Western mores have sullied a whole generation of eligible Chinese bachelorettes (which I imagine is the preferred explanation of multi-culti America bashers). The real explanation . . . an inconvenient truth if you will . . . lies in all the aborted female babies that never grew up to become eligible bachelorettes. China’s one child policy has led to the wholesale slaughter of females as Chinese parents, limited to only one child, use abortion to ensure a son. Perhaps, Francis’ embrace of China’s one child policy qualifies as a hate crime in Canada? The same Canadian thought crime tribunal (aka, the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal) that went after Mark Steyn should be immediately notified of Francis’ gender hatred.

Event #4 – Live Action’s Rose Acuna project is catching Planned Parenthood (PP) in the act of lying about fetal development to women considering an abortion. In short, the “counselors” at Planned Parenthood are trying desperately to strip the preborn of their humanity to make it all the easier for women to consent to an abortion. The PP counselors lie about when the child’s heartbeat begins and even state that it’s not a baby until birth. Of course, deception is not new for PP. Live Action has also caught PP in the act of aiding and abetting the cover up of statutory rapes and gladly accepting racist donations specifically meant to abort African American babies. Planned Parenthood’s version of science, like the scientists at the University of East Anglia’s Climate Research Unit, apparently involves quite a bit of deception . . . all for the good of humanity of course.

Event #5 – Buying off senators to pass the health care reform boondoggle at any cost, truth be damned. We witnessed the re-purchasing of Louisiana (aka, buying off Sen. Mary Landrieu) and now we have the potential 500 million dollar purchase of Senator Ben Nelson’s vote. The actual effects of the bill are secondary to the largesse used to grease the wheels of a yea vote. You see, large amounts of largesse . . . say in the hundreds of millions . . . equates to a humongous amount of power, and that gives quite a buzz, not surpassed by any other intoxicant known to man . . . truth be damned.

So, in the space of a short blog, I’ve mentioned five patches to the quilt just off the top of my head. There are plenty of other patches; the list could go on and on. But make no mistake; there is indeed a common thread. If, however, you’re on any one patch, then it may be hard to see the thread and that, I fear, is by design (and not necessarily human either; see Ephesians 6:12 and C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters).

The answer to, “what is the common thread?” is best summed up with Pilate’s infamous question:

“What is truth?” (John 18:38)

In Pilate’s case, he wasn’t providing an answer in a “Jeopardy!” format. He was instead denying the very existence of truth, and that is the common thread. Those unfortunate enough to share the same perspective as Pilate will also surely be afflicted by a concomitant condition: they will fail to realize that truth is as essential to life as Oxygen and Water. In fact, it is essential to the most important facet of life . . . eternal, immortal life. Jesus Christ (Mark 2: 1-12) indicated this when a cripple was lowered through a hole in a roof in order to reach him. Christ did not at first cure the man of his physical affliction. He at first forgave his sins, and only when people were aghast at Christ doing only what is reserved for God (the forgiveness of sins), did Jesus cure the man of his physical ailment. Christ then asked which is easier: to forgive the man’s sins or to tell the cripple to rise and walk away fully cured?

On that particular day, Jesus affected two cures . . . the curing of the cripple’s eternal soul and then the curing of his physical, fallen body. The curing of the soul is by far the most important, and it is precisely this fact that is so ultimately lost on those who share Pilate’s view on the truth (“What is truth?”). Those who are afflicted with Pilate’s Syndrome don’t even realize that they need something more vital than even water and Oxygen.

Christ, of course, was clear in his definition of the truth. He said that He is the truth (John 14:6). When truth is denied, Christ too is therefore denied. It is the equivalent of an attempted repudiation of the ultimate moral law giver who Lords over all reality . . . both that which is seen and unseen. The moral laws . . . aka, the truth . . . are not a bunch of prudish killjoys meant to impede our free-to-be-me, self-actualization (as many shrinks maintain). Rather they are the owner’s manual instructions on maintaining a healthy immortal, human soul. They are healing and joy. They are the only nutritious food for the soul.

Repudiation of the ultimate moral lawgiver, though, is not without consequence. We end up with things like the rise of new age, Gnostic religions like Anthropogenic Global Warming and hedonistic death cults like the abortion industry in America. The truth of the matter is that when you deny truth, like Pilate, you deny the soul its very sustenance and by doing so, you ensure its eternal death, separation from its source . . . the way, the truth, and the life, Jesus Christ.

So, truth denied is Christ rejected and Christ rejected is a Pandora’s Box of human misery. Creeping out of that box is Al Gore, Copenhagen’s Climate Summit, Planned Parenthood, China’s population control, and the list could go on and on. When a culture rejects truth, it rejects life and it inevitably weaves a death quilt that will surely serve double duty as that society’s death shroud . . . final jeopardy indeed.

Like those old timey Christmas shows like A Charlie Brown Christmas or Frosty the Snowman? These shows are cute and they’re innocent. Kids look forward to them each and every year. In fact, whole families are known to gather around the TV set during prime time viewing hours to take in the traditional shows of the Christmas season.

There’s another show that goes on at 8:00 pm on Monday . . . also during prime time. It’s a CBS show called, “How I Met Your Mother.” On the CBS webpage there’s a promotional video for the show. It’s described as follows:

What do you get when you take one of the most beloved Christmas characters and mix it with Barney from How I Met Your Mother? A very inappropriate snowman!! Oh Christmas will never be the same!

In this spoof, you are treated to footage from the classic children’s show with new voices dubbed in. Frosty talks about his porn collection and “boobs”. He also encourages a white rabbit to have sex in front of an audience of school children. Funny, huh?

Here are some examples of what Frosty says:

“I have been with a lot of women. Blondes. Brunettes. Redheads. Big boobs. Small boobs. Medium boobs. Some boobs that were big but kind of in a bad way.”

And, here’s Frosty’s advice to the white rabbit:

“You should have hit that. Dude, your pants were already off. You had a classroom full of people to cheer you on. And you can’t knock her up because it’s a dream.”

Once again, a season of innocence and hope, Christmas, is defiled. And, the favorite weapon of many a progressive/liberal is to roll out the smut jokes. Ha, ha, Frosty is talking sex! Reminds me of some pimple faced, chicken-chested dork desperately trying to establish his coolness in some high school locker room. Pathetic . . . but then again, that’s another pretty good synonym for the progressive/liberal establishment of network television.

Hat tip: OneMillionMoms.com who front-paged this issue on their website and are asking people to send letters of complaint to CBS. Thanks too to my wife, a subscriber to OneMillionMoms, who sent me the email concerning CBS’s version of Frosty the Snowman.

The Northland Family Planning Centers of Michigan are treating everyone to the words “good” or “goodness” over and over again, ad nauseam in their 4 minute and 25 second promotional video. I really couldn’t believe how many times the speaker uttered those words, so I replayed the video and counted instances of “good” or “goodness.” I counted 18 in the 4 minute and 25 second video. I suppose they are believers in the old dictum, “repetition is the mother of all learning.” If you hear it repeated enough, you may actually come to believe it.

Northland would like you to believe that abortion is good. Mind you, Northland didn’t say anything about family planning, sexually transmitted diseases, contraception, sexual health, etc. Nope, their whole video was exclusively about abortion. And, their message was basically this: if you’re planning to get an abortion (or you’ve already had one) and you feel at all guilty or remorseful, then Northland (the experts!) is here to tell you, that’s just plain silly. How can you feel bad about something that’s intrinsically good like abortion? In fact, abortion is not only good . . . it’s sacred.

In the video, Northland promises to live by the words of a plaque hanging on their clinic’s wall, and which, according to the speaker, all staff at Northland revere. It reads:

“We do sacred work that honors women and the circle of life and death. When you come here, bring only love.”

If a person arrived at the clinic and really brought love . . . not the Hallmark feeling, but the truly sacred Agape . . . the person would most likely react like Miriam Virgo  and courageously keep her baby. That, of course, would be big trouble for Northland and its profits.

To equate the monstrous death trade of abortion . . .  by the way, equal in its inhumanity to any of the great evils in mankind’s history from the slave trade, to communism, to the Jewish Holocaust of WWII . . . with the sacred is a textbook example of blasphemy.  It is co-opting an attribute of the Deity, God, and applying it to something quite malevolent. 

I’m afraid we are entering a new era of religious confusion where statements like, “abortion is sacred,” are not immediately and severely ridiculed by the overwhelming majority of the population. This kind of severe moral confusion . . . nay, moral schizophrenia . . . is a sure sign of trouble at a societal level. What then is the cure? Well, a good start would be to tear down the idea of tolerance as an uber-value that supersedes all other values. It is this exploitation of the normal virtue of tolerance which enables moral relativism and thus enables Northland to call abortion . . . the murder a preborn person . . . a sacred act.

There’s a lot more to that statement than is realized at first blush.

Take for instance, the effectiveness of various cognitive therapies where patient’s brains have basically been rewired through directed volition on the part of the patient. Stroke victims regain capacities that were thought to be completely lost because the area of the brain usually in control of that function is hopelessly damaged. Yet, the mind apparently can rewire the remaining healthy parts of the brain to take over from the damaged parts . . . even going so far as to switch control of a function to opposite hemispheres of the brain.

Is this a case of the immaterial affecting the material? It sure seems so. The mind and the brain do not appear to be one in the same. Our consciousness . . . our will (aka, “directed volition” in the case of cognitive therapy) . . . might just be of the immaterial. Religion would call this a soul, and Christianity believes it is imprinted with the Imago Dei (that is, the image of God). The soul comes equipped with consciousness (knowing I am me), free will, and intellect. And, best of all, since it is made in the image and likeness of God, it is also immortal. It is spirit as God is spirit. It is immaterial. Science has failed to find it only because it is ill equipped to do so, for science can only operate on that which is material and objective.

“So what,” you say? Mind does seem to have some sway over its own grey matter, but that’s the limit to it, right?

Wrong.

Another well known effect in quantum physics also shows the strange power of mind over matter . . . and in this case, matter not of one’s own body. Subatomic particles only reveal their exact position when we bother to measure them. It turns out that this odd little feature of subatomic particles is not simply a function of too primitive scientific, doo hickey instruments.  Rather, subatomic particles don’t have any location at all until some scientist wills to measure it. The act of measuring, which is an act of human free will, compels the subatomic particle to go from an indeterminate state to an actual position (sort of the physics way of stopping and smiling pretty for the camera). Here we have a strange, but true, example of human free will (aka, “The Mind”) affecting reality at the tiniest of levels, the quantum level. Yep, it’s another case of mind over matter . . . the immaterial operating on the material (no brain matter, after all, leaped out of the scientist’s ear and grabbed hold of that subatomic particle).

So then, we have one case of mind over matter where the matter is completely external to one’s own body. Are there any others?

Well, there’s intercessory prayer, or what the medical community likes to call “distant healing.” There have been several scientifically designed studies over time that incorporated a wide variety of techniques . . . everything from traditional prayer, to healing touch, to sending out good vibes (i.e. visualizing the health of some target patient). The results have been mixed and the jury is still out on solid scientific findings one way or the other. A 2006 study in the American Heart Journal has often been cited as the death knell for intercessory prayer; it showed worst results for a set of patients who knew they were being prayed for. However, there have been other studies that have shown the opposite. For example this systematic review in the Annals of Medicine showed that 57% of the trials the authors examined (from 23 different studies on intercessory prayer) showed positive treatment effects. These authors concluded that there is some there really there which warrants further research.

At the end of the day, however, science may never produce anything conclusive with respect to intercessory prayer. Besides any criticisms about confounds inherent in designed experiments, science must . . . by necessity . . .  ignore a gigantic factor in intercessory prayer. That factor is, of course, God. Intercessory prayer is not a magic elixir produced by our minds (aka, our souls) guaranteed to alter reality. No, an intercessory prayer is merely a request to the real governor of reality, who is God. It is He who does the healing, not us. But, we do have a hand in it . . . after all, God did tell us that where two or more are gathered in His Name, there He shall be. So, at least Biblically speaking, mind over matter sometimes works in intercessory prayer because God wills it to. But, just because God is the one who did the actual healing doesn’t change the fact that we . . . through our prayers . . . which are a product of our minds . . . had a place in that equation.

So, mind over matter . . . from rewiring one’s own brain, to telling subatomic particles to stay still a moment for a picture, to intercessory prayer; what’s any of it got to do with politics and culture in today’s America?

Plenty.

It directly contradicts one of the worst scourges to ever befall a civilization. I’m speaking of reductive materialism. This is the sweet nectar of most atheists’ existence. Reductive materialism is the idea that there is nothing beyond the material of this universe; that we are just a particularly excellent, chance collection of atoms; that your mind and brain are identical; that there is no God, because there is no supernatural. This mindset is taught and promoted in public K-12 education and most especially in college. The reach of reductive materialism is so widespread, that one cannot help but be influenced by it in one way or another.

Reductive materialism is also false. And, like anything that’s false, it can be nothing else but damaging to civilization. It is a poison that leeches hope from man, sows despair, encourages hedonism, diminishes the will to procreate (i.e. to have kids, not just have sex), and opens up a Pandora’s Box of Utilitarian nightmares that make horrors like sanitized eugenics (e.g. abortion in African American communities) possible. Welcome to the brave new world of reductive materialism.

Mind over matter discredits reductive materialism, for it shows that mind is not matter. It shows that there is a part of us that is immaterial . . . our souls (aka, our minds). We are part of something much bigger than just ourselves. There is God, and man is not just a very fortunate, happenstance collection of atoms. Instead, man is a creation of God, endowed with an immortal soul formed in the image and likeness of God. This truth gives man the wonderful gift of hope and it is this great commodity of Heaven that makes for better societies during our sojourn on earth.

It’s a song written by Paul McCartney in the early 1970’s. Even if though it’s an old song, it’s one of my favorites. My kids like it too and the oldest among them is only eight.

Why is it so appealing? Well it’s catchy for one, but most of all, for me, it serves as a reminder of several things beyond what was likely intended by its writer.

At face value, the song is a love song about Paul McCartney’s wife, Linda. He’s amazed at how much he needs her, how she rights him when he’s wrong, but most of all, he’s amazed on how much he loves her and she loves him. And, that love is a barely discovered country that, “he doesn’t really understand.” I feel exactly the same way about my lovely wife.

At a different level, I’ve taken the liberty to personalize the song, expand its meaning, and thus, its reach. This love song by Mr. McCartney reminds me very much about the love of God for man in the context of the spectacular cathedral that is creation . . . all good reasons to very much be amazed.

Here, take a look at some of the lyrics and perhaps you’ll see what I mean:

Maybe I’m amazed at the way you love me all the time
Maybe I’m afraid of the way I love you
Maybe I’m amazed at the way you pulled me out of time
And hung me on a line

Maybe I’m amazed at the way I really need you
Baby I’m a man maybe I’m a lonely man
Who’s in the middle of something
That he doesn’t really understand . . .

Maybe I’m amazed at the way you’re with me all the time
Maybe I’m afraid of the way I leave you

To me, it’s like a rock n’ roll cry from the desert: there is man in God’s marvelously complex creation, but he is not just an animal in a zoo or a specimen in some divine experiment. He is instead, a beloved of God. That alone is reason to be amazed.

Furthermore, the man is lonely and will always be so without his ultimate source of joy, God. He truly is in the middle of something he barely understands. The analogy of God as Father and we as children is apt in the face of a mind-boggling reality created by an omniscient and all powerful God. We really don’t understand and must approach God with the faith of a child. We need Him, and that realization is the virtue of humility.

The man, however, is also a sinner. Knowing one is a sinner enables the man to truly fear the “way I leave you.” For every time we sin, we in effect, turn our backs on the one who loves us. Sin is the gravest form of infidelity, for it is infidelity to God as lover of mankind. Hence, the greatest fear in the world really should be the fear of how we leave God and how easy that’s become.

All in all, the song is, at face value, about McCartney’s wife, but it fits nicely as a synopsis of God’s relationship with man (at least as much of a synopsis as a rock song can provide).

The other reminder that the song affords me is to never stop being amazed. A cessation of amazement is endemic in western civilization in the 21st century. Granted, our fancies may still be tickled by ever more portable and powerful electronic devices or by the special effects of a Hollywood blockbuster or by some medical advancement, but these excitements are limited to what is materially before us. It is the equivalent of reveling in the thin stew of a horse-blinder view of reality. It’s easy. It’s what’s at hand. And, it’s entertaining. But, like a bowl of sugar, although it tastes good at first, it will ultimately fail to satisfy. The cessation of amazement that I’m speaking of was well summarized by Mother Teresa’s assessment of the west. She concisely and accurately diagnosed us as suffering from a poverty of spirit. To put it another way, we are no longer amazed.

Times of trouble and mourning are truly times of great suffering, but ironically, they are also times to rip off the horse blinders of radical materialism (i.e. only what we can perceive is all there is to reality), to step back, and be amazed. The reality you live in is barely understood and you perceive so little of what’s really there. Whenever I hear McCartney’s song, I’m reminded of that too.

I’m currently reading Life After Death: The Evidence by Dinesh D’Souza. I’m not done with it yet, but thus far I’d say it’s a terrific book that makes a reason based case for the immortality of the human soul. It may even be a salve for those who have just lost loved ones and perhaps even for communities who have lost dear colleagues. I find that whenever I put the book aside after reading it for a bit, I find myself quietly singing, in the privacy of my own mind, McCartney’s Maybe I’m Amazed.

For example, in Chapter Five (The Physics of Immortality), D’Souza explains the breathtaking revolution currently underway in the world of physics. With aplomb, he shatters the horse blinders of a merely material existence by explaining the implications of dark matter, dark energy, and string theory. To D’Souza, I say thank you for being the willing messenger, and to God I say both thank you and “maybe I’m amazed.” When the horse blinders are removed and you realize that reality ain’t just a trip to Walmart to buy diapers, you lurch from despair and spiritual poverty to hope and to faith, even in the midst of mourning.

For instance, to know that we perceive only about 5% of matter and energy and to realize that 95% of the universe is beyond the powers of our perception and instrumentation is to be humbled and amazed. Further, to learn that there are perhaps 7 additional dimensions of space that are hidden from our sight is right reason to be amazed and daunted at who and what may be standing right next to us unbeknownst. Modern physics rather than serving as a comfort to atheists is instead serving to confirm what people of faith knew all along . . . that reality is more amazing than any fiction created by man and that life does not end in death.

So, no matter where you find yourself in this life, whether it is in the midst of joy or in the deepest sorrows of loss, take comfort. If you are blessed to be in the embrace of your spouse, then do take Mr. McCartney’s advice . . . be amazed. But, if you are where we all arrive at time and again, in the grips of a sorrow, then still take heart in knowing that there is much more to the world than meets the eye. There is God and His fabulous, tremendous, mind boggling creation. In mourning, we miss our loved ones, but also in mourning, we are like the blind who are granted sight. We are jostled from the comforts of a purely material view of reality and reminded that God has much in store for us both in this life and the next (for death truly is “the undiscovered country,” as William Shakespeare put it in Hamlet).