Obama: Now a Bible-Thumper?!

The hypocrisy of the left is breathtaking. President Obama’s invocation of God's word to support his illegal actions on illegal aliens is only the most recent example. If the law of the United States doesn't allow him to do what he wants, then he appeals to a Higher Authority?
Obama's constitutional duty is to faithfully execute the laws. The President and his administration are the “executive branch”—get it? In case you are unclear as to what "execute" means, here you go:

1: to carry out fully :  put completely into effect <execute a command>

2: to do what is provided or required by <execute a decree>

3: to put to death especially in compliance with a legal sentence

4: to make or produce (as a work of art) especially by carrying out a design

5: to perform what is required to give validity to <execute a deed>

Do what the law commands and carry out what has been decreed...by the legislative and judicial branches. What if the next President decides not to enforce capital gain tax collection? Or corporate tax collection? Or environmental protection laws? Or minimum wage laws? Or unpopular elements of ObamaCare…oh, wait, Obama's already used that one.
The Patriot Post wrote the following [Patriot Post November 24, 2014].
Curt

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Politicians -- Please Read All of God’s Word

Thursday evening’s executive decree by Barack Obama marked a particularly significant reversal. But it’s not what you might think.
In September 2012 at their nationally televised party convention, Democrats loudly booed the mention of God and the proposal by former Democrat Governor Ted Strickland to add the Judeo-Christian God, Jehovah, to the party’s platform written and approved every four years. Despite delegate opposition to the amendments, Los Angeles Mayor and DNC Convention Chairman Antonio Villaraigosa overruled the vocal crowd to return this statement to the 2012 platform: “We need a government that stands up for the hopes, values and interests of working people and gives everyone willing to work hard the chance to make the most of their God-given potential.”
Now, just two years later, the president evokes Scripture in announcing policy. It wasn’t from the New Testament, which leftists frequently select – especially the Sermon on the Mount – for the purpose of pushing “social justice,” but from Exodus, that book where Jehovah handed down the Law to Moses to govern the conduct of the nation of Israel and its people.
Flowing across the lips of one of the most secular leaders in our nation’s history came, “Scripture tells us that we shall not oppress a stranger, for we know the heart of a stranger – we were strangers once, too.” He was paraphrasing Exodus 22:21 and Exodus 23:9, the former of which says, “You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.” He did this merely to add moral authority for his unconstitutional action.
Will America soon see Barack Obama’s newfound application of the Bible in other policies such as monogamous marriage between a man and a woman or the protection of the life of the unborn?
Let’s pray to see that miraculous conversion.
On Thursday, America witnessed a despicable demonstration of grazing from the oft-used Biblical Buffet, picking and choosing Holy Scripture to fulfill one’s argument, justify a narrative, and, yes, even to justify sin.
To Obama, progressives and all those who worship the secular triune of me, myself and I, plucking Holy Scripture out of context is deemed useful and is employed to rationalize select agendas. However, they say employing those same Scriptures in their entirety to govern one’s behavior, applying virtues in the corporate world, selection of education, entertainment, relationships, et al, should be viewed as extremist and not be permitted in the public square of debate or civic engagement.
All of Scripture testifies to Jehovah’s characteristics of mercy, grace, compassion, limitless love – and righteousness, justice and wrath toward sin. Selective application of God’s Truth is exposed as false teaching and bearing a false witness to the Gospel.
Those of us watching Obama use God’s teaching in such a craven way winced. He supports the murder of the unborn; he has scrambled domestic and military policy to normalize homosexuality in our culture; he was disciplined in racial hate and leftist “liberation theology” by Jeremiah “God D___ America” Wright; he has openly mocked those who “cling to religion”; and he supports all manner of activism contrary to our nation’s Judeo-Christian foundation.
To see the president flippantly use his momentary public profession of faith to Christianity in justifying the disregard for America’s laws as he evokes a commandment of Jewish law was too rich. Remember, this is the same president who refuses to identify and work to eradicate Islamic terrorism while hundreds and thousands of Christians in the Middle East are persecuted and executed for their refusal to denounce Christ as Lord.
Yet, the reality is raw: Gone are the Olympic-god-invoking Greek columns of Obama’s coronation in Chicago’s Butler Field in 2008. Gone are the screaming, fainting crowds of hundreds of thousands in Germany. Gone are the soaring statements of great intellect and political prowess amongst media and colleagues after the merry-go-round of scandals.
After having his six years in office, Obama’s policies and his team of fellow progressives overwhelmingly rejected on Nov. 4, this former political messiah has been exposed. He has no personal authority that remains credible – he’s broken the trust of those he was elected to serve.
While all who watched Thursday’s proclamation know that the policy of legal immigration must be reformed and enforced with humanity, we witnessed a failing leader attempt to justify his own lawlessness and that of millions by standing on a moral platform that, until now, he has openly mocked and betrayed.
The pitiful display of the countless who continue to defend Obama and practice the overt disdain for truth, integrity and goodness should send those of us who abide in the Almighty to our knees and on our faces in prayer. America deserves leadership that is not double-minded and is rooted in honor – on both sides of the political aisle.

President Obama's speech in response to the Ferguson Grand Jury's Decision

President Obama's speech tonight, in response to the Ferguson grand jury's decision, was appropriate and going well, UNTIL he mentioned that "communities of color aren't just making these problems up." Did he not just hear the prosecutor confirm that many "witnesses" gave false, sworn testimony claiming that Michael Brown was shot in the back, while running away, amongst other lies, when the forensic evidence, especially the autopsies, along with credible witnesses' testimony, proved those claims to be false? In actuality, the evidence substantiated that Brown acted like a thug to the store owner he stole from, and to the police officer who responded appropriately to Brown's violent and aggressive behavior. No, President Obama, the lessons that need to be learned from the Ferguson tragedy are that race baiting leaders promoting false narratives are not helping anybody. In fact, they're unnecessarily exacerbating racial tensions. These leaders, and President Obama, should instead preach that behaving badly has serious consequences. If you steal, you go to jail. If you attack a cop or neighborhood watch volunteer doing their job, you risk getting shot. If you riot and loot when you don't like a clearly just result, you worsen a tragedy. The more these leaders point to cases that don't prove their claims of police brutality and racism, the more it highlights the real source of the problem.

~Steve Campos

Vote YES to Retain Justice Karmeier

Few political races ever fired me up--and flat out made me angry!--as much the issue of retaining Illinois Supreme Court Justice Lloyd Karmeier this year. A man of integrity is being unjustly attacked by attorneys who are trying to buy the judiciary.

I don't have the time to go into all of the details, but you can investigate this for yourself. The trial lawyers have a huge case pending before the Illinois Supreme Court. Cases don't get to the Illinois Supreme Court unless there is some legitimate doubt about their outcome. There are reportedly $1.7 billion dollars in attorney's fees that are contingent on this case. The seven justices on the Illinois Supreme Court, based on their positions in similar cases, appear to be about split on it. Karmeier and three other justices seem likely to rule against trial lawyers, while the remaining three justices seem likely to rule in their favor. Karmeier happens to be up for retention vote this year, so if the trial lawyers could get him off the court, they would at least have a 50-50 chance of getting someone who would rule their way to replace him...and if they can get that done, they are likely to win the $1,700,000,000 in legal fees when this big case gets decided in the next few months. 

Let's put that number in perspective.  If there are 50 lawyers working on the case, that means each one of them will make around THIRTY FOUR MILLION dollars! Or, if there are 100 lawyers working on the case, they can each easily retire on their $17,000,000 take. If there are 600 lawyers working on the big case, that means they will take nearly $3,000,000 apiece! Even if the fees are spread among 1,700 lawyers, each gets a million bucks ...if Justice Karmeier is no longer on the Illinois Supreme Court.

So these lawyers are going to stoop to about any depth to remove Justice Karmeier! Based on the many mailings received in my household, that depth is sickeningly low. They are resorting to gross misrepresentation of rulings he has been involved in for many decades. One of the things that even these mailings prove: Justice Karmeier rules based on the law, not on feelings. He decides cases based on what the law actually says, not based on how popular a ruling might later be when analyzed by political opponents.

Note that for the last ten years, he is just one of seven justices on the Illinois Supreme Court, so he has no power to do anything alone...any decision of the court has to have the concurrence of at least three other justices. Karmeier is not out of the mainstream, as the dirty mailings would like to imply.

Don't be suckered by the emotional garbage ("Oh, you couldn't vote for someone who was soft on a murderer, would you?"). Just follow the money, and you know what is behind the false demonizing of this good man. As yourself what might you be tempted to do for seventeen hundred million dollars? Do you think the trial lawyers might succumb to that temptation? They have. Don't let them buy the judges who will hear their cases!

Vote YES to retain Justice Karmeier.

Cyberbullying: The New Issue For U.S. Senators?!

In my email inbox today was this from my Republican Senator Mark Kirk:

Dear Curt,

Did You Know? Almost half of all kids report having been bullied online.

Cyberbullying wasn’t part of my childhood, but it is part of everybody’s now. As a product of the public school system, I know that education holds the key for future generations. Providing every child access to a safe, first-rate public education remains one of my top priorities. Bullying has real and terrible consequences. That's why my Student Leadership Advisory Board partnered with Motorola to develop a mobile app to help prevent cyberbullying.

Today I also launched two public service announcements to raise awareness about this horrific trend. Please help by sharing these videos on social media:

To learn more about my work to combat cyberbullying, please visit my website.

[I removed some hyperlinks from the message…I am not trying to drive traffic to his videos or to Motorola.]

Cyberbullying is bullying. Why do these kids have phones and computers? Parents should take care of it. If their child is being bullied, the parent would move the child off the computer; if their child is a bully, the parent can take other measures, like taking the phone or computer away! Where is parental responsibility? Where are parents who care? (That is the problem!) 

I was so disgusted by the idea that my U.S. Senator is making a federal case out of the issue, I visited his website and wrote him this:

I got your blast email about this topic today, and just had to respond. As a US Senator, cyber bullying is so NOT your job! You are aiming at a minor symptom, Mark, and ignoring the ultimate cause!

Cyber-bullying is just a natural consequence of the selfish, me-first, pleasure-mad, entitlement, instant-gratification, family destroying, dads-are-unnecessary culture that has been created over the last 50 years of socialistic income-redistributing FEDERAL SPENDING (pandering, vote-buying, dependency-creating, politician-job-securing, etc.) and actively reinforced by OTHER social policy choices like abortion on demand, marriage-penalty taxation, porn-protection, marriage re-definition, expulsion of eternal values from schools, and the like.

As a US Senator, I respectfully urge you to get serious!! Get serious about the things that the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT DOES TO CAUSE a million problems in our society, of which cyber-bullying is just one.

If my message to my Senator gives you any ideas, act on them!

Progressives Can’t Tell Male From Female: Part 2

It is rare that someone objecting to a blog post lends so much credibility to it in the process. I admit that I did not research the Lincoln, NE, story that was cited by Mona Charen in her October 10 column Let's Repeal Reality which I reproduced (and encourage you to read here). 
 

Apparently a public school teacher took offense at the implications. Please understand, I know many public school teachers and have a great deal of respect for many of those I know. Those who really are trying to point children to real Truth and Goodness have a tough job, given that their hands are so tied.

But to rebut my comment and Charen’s column, we were pointed to this story from a Nebraska news source. According to it,

Superintendent Steve Joel pushed back Thursday against what he said was misinformed reaction to the district’s gender identity training[.]

“What a relief,” I’m thinking, “It was all a hoax! The school must have brought in an ‘expert’ who shocked even the school administration and teachers with some kooky advice, and the school rejected the nonsense.  Must’ve been some home-schooling parent that got a hold of the kooky brochure and sent it to right-wing-nut news outlet to try to make the public school look bad, but in fact, the school had kicked the consultant out in disgrace.”

But alas, the report confirms the kookiness! According to the purportedly rebutting article, the complaints arise from

the district’s gender identity training, specifically handouts used with teachers at Irving Middle School that included one from the nonprofit organization Gender Spectrum entitled “12 easy steps to gender inclusiveness.”

[Superintendent Steve Joel] said the handouts were suggestions and strategies, not mandates, about how teachers could reach all students in their classrooms. The training occurred at the request of an Irving teacher looking for guidance dealing with students.

We are supposed to be reassured by this from Superintendent Joel:

“This was about adults, professional educators, who care deeply about trying to reach and establish relationships with children… They are looking for strategies about how to be more effective in the classroom.”

Oh, so we aren’t just to reassure children that they don’t have to be boys or girls, we are explaining to the “professional educators” that they are mistaken to think so!

Superintendent Joel said that the district

“was happy to answer parents' questions but would not spend more time with people around country choosing to react to something not grounded in fact.”

So what was not grounded in fact? Fact is, they brought in experts to advise the school how to approach the subject and they were advised to pretend that the students might not be male or female.

Finally, we are assured by Joel that Lincoln Public School system

“will not stop efforts to reach all students, including those who are gender non-conforming or transgender. The district works with all kinds of students -- those who live in poverty, who come from all over the world -- and learning how best to reach them will be instrumental in raising the district’s graduation rate from 87 percent to 90 percent.

 "We’re not going to back away from educating ourselves on what it takes to be effective with children[.]”

What is effective education, if it cannot even inform children of categories like male and female? What are educators if they have to pretend in order to reach and educate students?

Our country is in trouble, in case you hadn't already noticed.

Progressives: So Enlightened They Can't Tell Male from Female

The people "who style themselves the “pro-science party'" can 't tell male from female. "Imagine if they get their hands on chemistry next."

Mona Charen exposes this insanity in her column, reproduced below from the Patriot Post. The kookiness she writes about illustrates the lengths to which fallen mankind will go to justify deviant behavior and convince himself that there are no moral absolutes and no adverse consequences of sexual choices.
Curt
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Let's Repeal Reality

By Mona Charen · Oct. 10, 2014

 

Katherine Timpf is young, beautiful and very sane. Oh, have I said something wrong? Good.

Writing for National Review, Timpf covers the complete flight from reality that characterizes today’s progressivism/feminism. A quick glance at her recent titles gives the flavor of the world they seek to create and impose. “Feminists: Remove World War II Sailor Statue Because It’s ‘Sexual Assault’” (that would be the iconic image from Times Square on VJ Day in 1945). “Feds Spending Money To Find Out Why Obese Girls Get Fewer Dates.” “Feminists: Slow Motion Is Sexist.” And today’s installment: “Schools Told to Call Kids ‘Purple Penguins’ Because ‘Boys and Girls’ Is Not Inclusive to Transgender.”

It’s not just one school. The guidelines were given to all teachers in the Lincoln, Neb., school district, and if you happen upon any college campus, you’ll quickly discover that our institutions of higher learning are in the business of denying basic biology: It’s now unacceptable to refer to just two genders. There’s “he,” “she” and “xe,” among others.

In Nebraska, Timpf writes, teachers are guided to avoid terms that are “exclusive.” “Don’t use phrases such as ‘boys and girls,’ ‘you guys,’ ‘ladies and gentlemen,’ and similarly gendered expressions to get kids' attention,” a training manual for middle school teachers advises. “Always ask yourself… Will this configuration create a gendered space?”

Middle school children in Lincoln will now be asked how they wish to be identified – as male, female or something else. And there’s this: “Point out and inquire when you hear others referencing gender in a binary manner. … Provide counter-narratives that challenge students to think more expansively about their notions of gender.”

Lincoln is providing another handout to its teachers from a group with the Orwellian title “Center for Gender Sanity.” Their propaganda tells teachers “Gender identity … can’t be observed or measured, only reported by the individual.” Really, and what if an individual reports that he is Kaiser Wilhelm?

People who imagine that there are more than two sexes (gender is a grammatical term) have quite lost touch with the basics of life and clearly have too much free time. Except in the extremely rare cases of hermaphroditism, every child is born male or female. Maleness or femaleness is imprinted on every cell, influences every muscle and fiber, affects every body system, and colors every thought. Maybe human life would have been better if we reproduced asexually like tapeworms or dandelions, but there it is. Poetry would have suffered, I’ll wager, even if family courts would have been rendered moot.

The obsession with sex and now the mainstreaming of truly bizarre ideas about human identity suggest that progressives cannot be trusted with responsibility and certainly shouldn’t be anywhere in the vicinity of children.

This kookiness about sexuality is brought to us by the people who style themselves the “pro-science party.” Imagine if they get their hands on chemistry next. A teacher handout might say, “Protons are positively charged, and electrons are negatively charged. But you can be a neutron if that’s how you feel deep inside.” Or maybe it’s oppressive to assume that protons are always positive. Maybe some days they have negative energy?

“Gender neutral” housing is now available at Northeastern, Cornell, Middlebury, the University of Maryland and many other schools. Look up non-binary, and you get this: “Non-binary is a term for people who are not men or women, or are both men and women, or who are something else entirely, or are some combination of these things, or some of these things some of the time.” Something else entirely?

The notion that “gender” is a matter of choice, that it can be assigned like positions on a softball team, that it’s a form of oppression to insist that people use the restrooms labeled “men” and “women,” is truly to be at war with nature.

There’s plenty to resent about nature. Why do only women get pregnant and give birth? Some men would like the chance, and some women would gladly change roles. Why are men bigger? Why are some people unattractive and others boring? That doesn’t seem fair. And why must we die? These mortality assignments are a terrible form of oppression. If we declared ourselves “death neutral,” would that make it so?

COPYRIGHT 2014 CREATORS.COM

Is Christianity Arrogant?

     If you believe a snake is about to bite me, and I don't think so, and you warn me, are you arrogant? Even if you are mistaken, it doesn't make you arrogant. You are just wrong, and people can be wrong with the most admirable of intentions. My appropriate response should be, "Thank you for caring!" 
     What if, instead of a snake-bite, you sincerely believe I am on a path to lifelong harm or even eternal damnation? To share that belief with me would be admirable and appreciated...even if you are mistaken (as I pray you would be).
     I enjoy reading "A Slice of Infinity" from RZIM. You might consider subscribing (go to THIS WEBSITE) so you will receive the daily "Slice." Some "Slices" you might call inspirational, others more apologetic. Today's "Slice" from Andy Bannister was a very straightforward and logical response to the accusation that Christians must be arrogant if they believe their message is true and share it with others. I've copied it in full for you here.  Enjoy!
     - Curt - 

Isn’t Christianity Arrogant?

One of the most common accusations flung at Christians is that they are arrogant. “How can you believe that you’re right and Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims—all the thousands of other religions—are wrong?” Isn’t it the height of arrogance to claim that Jesus is the way to God? A way, possibly. But the way?

This issue haunts many Christians and makes us reluctant to talk about our faith. We don’t want to appear arrogant, bigoted, or intolerant. This pluralistic view of religions thrives very easily in places like Canada or Europe where tolerance is valued above everything else. It’s very easy slip from the true claim—”all people have equal value”—to the false claim that “all ideas have equal merit.” But those are two very different ideas indeed.

Let’s take a brief look at the “all religions are essentially the same” idea. Suppose I say that I’ve just got into literature in a big way. This last year, I’ve read William Shakespeare, Virginia Woolf and Tolkien, but also Harry Potter and The Very Hungry Caterpillar—and I’ve concluded that every author is identical. Would you conclude that: (a) this is the most profound statement on literature you’ve ever heard? Or would you conclude (b) that I don’t have the first clue what I’m talking about? I suggest that you’d probably choose (b). Now, what about the statement “all religions are the same”? Doesn’t it likewise suggest that the person making it hasn’t actually looked into any of them? Because once you do, you realize it’s not that most religions are fundamentally the same with superficial differences but the reverse is the case: most religions have superficial similarities with fundamental differences.

A further problem with the idea that all religions are essentially the same is that it ignores a fundamental truth about reality: ideas have consequences. What you believe matters, because it will effect what you do. To claim that all religions are essentially the same is to say that it doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you’re sincere—and this neglects the fact that you can believe something sincerely and be sincerely wrong. Hitler held his beliefs with sincerity—that doesn’t make them true.

However, truth, by its very nature, is exclusive. If it is true, as Christianity claims, that Jesus was crucified, died, and rose from the dead, then it is not true, as Islam claims, that Jesus never died in the first place and that somebody else was killed in his place. Both claims cannot be true. Truth is exclusive.

But just because truth is exclusive, that doesn’t make truth cold and uncaring. Truth for the Christian is personal. The Jesus who said “I am the only way” also said “I am the truth.” In other words, ultimate truth is not a set of propositions but a person. As the Bible says in 2 Timothy 2:12, “I know whom I have believed.” Not what I have believed or experienced but whom. Jesus Christ.

To ask why we think that Jesus Christ is the only way is to miss the point entirely. Jesus does not compete with anybody. Nobody else in history made the claims he did; nobody else in history claimed to be able to deal with the problems of the human heart like he did. Nobody else in history claimed, as he did, to be God with us. To say that we believe Jesus is the only way should have nothing to do with arrogance and everything to do with introducing people to him.

Andy Bannister is a member of the speaking team at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Toronto, Canada.