Family

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Family - Media Bias - Morals/Sex - News - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

When Reporters Become the News We All Lose

July 10, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

As the media systematically ignores the good news in Iraq, the AP instead turns to “reporting” on a “journalist’s” Iraq love tryst. Why we need to see a story of CBS’ Lara Logan’s romance troubles is anyone’s guess? But apparently the AP thinks that Lara Logan’s love tryst with a married contractor in Iraq is “news” while the surge and the complete lack of any real civil war in Iraq is not.

Here is the problem with the news media. Dan Rather fell for it. Walter Cronkite was overcome by it. Each of these “journalists” imagined that they were the news, that their lives and opinions were just as important to the nation as the news upon which they reported.

Sure Logan is a slightly better than average looking newsbabe, but so what? Is her horsing around with a married man something that is important to the world? Is her slutting around with multiple partners during her time as a correspondent in Iraq something that we all have a hunger, a NEED to know?

I just don’t see it. I just don’t see how her loose moral choices could be a compelling story of any kind… unless it is as an object lesson against her actions. Even then. But, here is where we are in the media today. Instead of pursuing the news, instead of worrying about the integrity of the truth, we have “journalists” who want to be the story instead of just reporting on it.

Continue reading “When Reporters Become the News We All Lose”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Family - Media Bias - News - Security/Safety - Selwyn Duke - Society/Culture

The War on Boys: Where Feminists and Men’s Rights Activists Go Wrong

June 30, 2008 by

By Selwyn Duke

One problem with one-issue activists, it seems, is that they often view matters from only one dimension. This has always been one of the characteristics of feminists. Men get blame for being history’s conquerors and killers, for instance, but no credit for being its innovators and healers. We will hear about how women “create life” while men only destroy it, but forgotten are the fruits of men’s labors. Were it not for male medical advances that virtually eliminated female death during childbirth, many feminists wouldn’t be around to crow about their fecundity.

Given this misandrist atmosphere, it’s not surprising that an opposing group called “men’s rights activists” would arise. They rebut feminist ideology, bring many important issues to light and usually make excellent points. And I tend to like them.

One issue they’re front and center on is the “war against boys.” This refers to the characteristic problems exhibited by modern lads – such as higher dropout rates, worse grades, and lower college attendance than girls and a far greater likelihood that they’ll be targeted by the ADHD police for a pickling with Ritalin – and the causes of these things. As for the latter, men’s rights activists implicate a prevailing anti-male attitude in a highly-feminized society. And I essentially agree with that analysis. Yet, despite this, like the feminists, they go badly astray. In fact, the two groups have more in common than they would care to admit.
Really, this is no surprise, as the problem I speak of isn’t unique to an activist of a given stripe but is one of modernity. To introduce it, I will cite a recent article by one David Kupelian titled “The war on fathers.” It’s an excellent piece by a man who has much of value to say, and I encourage you to read it. Yet it also contains the following line, “. . . young boys . . . don’t naturally thrive when forced to sit still at a desk listening to a teacher lecture for six hours a day . . . .”
Continue reading “The War on Boys: Where Feminists and Men’s Rights Activists Go Wrong”

00Publius Contributor - Education - Family - News - Religion - Society/Culture - Thomas Brewton

Serving

June 22, 2008 by

-By Thomas E. Brewton

Being a Christian is more than attending church. And it’s not being selective in the ways you choose to follow Jesus.

Sunday’s sermon at Black Rock-Long Ridge Congregational Church (North Stamford, Connecticut) was delivered by Pastor Steve Treash. His subject was “I Serve.”

Christianity is more than just desiring to become a better person. You must be be ready to act when God presents opportunities for you to serve others.

Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. (Matthew 20:25-28)

Again in the Apostle Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi:

If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. _

And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross! _

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:1-11)

Christians must be prepared, indeed eager, to serve at home, in the workplace, and especially in the church.

Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. (Ephesians 4:15-16)

Serve joyfully and with a full heart.

Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free. (Ephesians 6:7-8)

When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. (John 13:12-17)

Continue reading “Serving”

00Publius Contributor - Family - Morals/Sex - Religion - Resa LaRu, "Warchick" Kirkland - Society/Culture

Figuring Out God, Prophecy and other scary words

June 21, 2008 by 1 Comment

-By Resa LaRu Kirkland

Reading some scriptures last night–that I’ve read a million times before–seemed to have new meaning with current events. Could this be what we are seeing happen right now?

Here’s what I was reading, and what I thought of it. (Only the Prophet can speak with any authority about God’s direction for His gospel, but we are ALL–as God’s children–entitled to the gifts of prophecy, discernment, and understanding concerning everything else in our lives and the lives of those we love or have responsibility over, so lay claim to it people and use it! NOW!)

Daniel 11: 21-22
21 And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.
22 And with the arms of a flood shall they be overflown from before him, and shall be broken; yea, also the prince of the covenant.

First of all, let me stress that I do NOT believe that these verses are speaking of the anti-Christ, if there is a single person he is meant to represent. All men who seek to steal your freedom and set themselves above you, anyone who is a respecter of persons and believes you must do as THEY say–and NOT what is right–are anti-Christs. That was the war in Heaven and that is the war now–between those who want free will (Christ’s plan)and those who want force(Lucifer’s plan).

A vile person who shall obtain the kingdom by flatteries, to whom the people will NOT give the honour of the kingdom? Does that mean the majority will not elect him? I’ll get to that in a minute…only a few verses later there seems to be a confirmation of that fact.
Continue reading “Figuring Out God, Prophecy and other scary words”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Family - Frederick Meekins - News - Religion - Society/Culture

Hispanosupremacists Infiltrate Evangelical Movement

June 19, 2008 by

-By Frederick Meekins

Minority activists and other guiltmongers often whine that 11 am Sunday morning is often the most segregated hour of the week. I wonder what the we-are-all-one-big family agitators have to say about the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, which bills itself as the National Hispanic Association of Evangelicals.

While prominent Christian leaders are correct that all of mankind descends from one set of parents, interesting, isn’t it, how these speakers only expect Whites of a more Northern European extraction to abide by such radical color-blindness. For if a group of Caucasians a little to wrapped up in their pigmentation ratios established the Nordic Christian Association, it would not be tolerated in contemporary Evangelical circles, and rightfully so.

Yet, in browsing the NHCLC’s website, one finds alliances and linkages with a virtual who’s who of American religion today. On their main page at one time or another have been inks to prominent ministries such as Promise Keepers, Christianity Today, Franklin Graham’s Samaritan’s Purse, and Rod Parsely’s Center for Moral Clarity. Unless otherwise stated, usually such prominent banner placements denote a high degree of fellowship between the partners.
Continue reading “Hispanosupremacists Infiltrate Evangelical Movement”

00Publius Contributor - Crime - Democrats/Leftists - Family - Health - Media Bias - Morals/Sex - News - Religion - Security/Safety - Society/Culture - The Law - Warner Todd Huston

Sexualizing Little Girls is Art?

June 2, 2008 by 2 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

What would you say about photos of naked children — most of them girls as young as 13 — holding each other or by themselves in pensive poses? Would you imagine it to be thoughtful art or would your first thought be that it seemed like uncomfortable porn? Would you think it just a beautiful expression of humanity, or would you get a vague feeling that someone is getting his jollies from these pictures and it might be the so-called artist. And would it seem like a celebration or exploitation of children?

This is the argument currently going on in Australia over an art gallery showing of the work of photographer Bill Henson. Henson’s latest photo series shows several naked girls and boys, some prepubescent, in what some may consider alluring poses (though others might consider them merely thoughtful). The authorities were not amused by the exploitative photos and had them removed from the gallery. Even Australia’s new Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, has had his say about this incident describing the photos as “revolting.” He later added that he will not apologize for his comments.

Naturally, several in Australia’s arts community raced to Henson’s defense saying that it is an outrage to have had the gallery showing boxed by authorities. Even actress Cate Blanchett — herself a mother of three — has voiced support of the photographer.

The letter of support scolds all those who are offended by the photos.

Continue reading “Sexualizing Little Girls is Art?”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Family - Media Bias - News - Race - Selwyn Duke - Society/Culture

The Crime of Being White

May 29, 2008 by

By Selwyn Duke

Just recently I wrote a piece about Keith John Sampson, a college student who was charged with “racial harassment” for reading an anti-Ku Klux Klan book. Not surprisingly, the article evoked a great response, including emails from those with their own stories to tell about persecution inspired by what I will call caucaphobia. A couple of these accounts are so compelling – compared to one even Sampson’s problems pale – that I’ve decided to publish them in this piece (both readers allowed me to use their names; their correspondence has been edited for punctuation, grammar and style). These are the stories the mainstream media won’t tell, straight from the front lines of the culture war. They give voice to a persecution whose name most dare not utter.

First we have Mr. David Gonzalez of Illinois. He wrote:
Continue reading “The Crime of Being White”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Family - Frederick Meekins - Media Bias - News - President - Religion - Society/Culture

Schaeffer Progeny Kneels At The Feet Of Afrosupremacist Pastor

May 23, 2008 by

-By Frederick Meekins

Charged with relaying the truth of God as revealed through Holy Scripture and rationally applied to more contemporary specific situations through theology, ministers face the unique challenge of uplifting those aspects of culture and society that are in accord with what the Lord intended for mankind while admonishing or criticizing those aspects of human institutions and individual behavior that fall short. As fallen beings themselves stained by the same sin nature plaguing each and every one of us, it can be easy for those aspiring for recognition as mouthpieces of the divine to substitute their own agendas and predilections as God’s own clearly defined will. That is why it is imperative for believers making up these respective congregations — whether they be sitting in a traditional pew, listening over the airwaves, or even reading a book — to do their duty not only as Bereans but also as the sons of Issachar by examining the ideas espoused, the implications of these ideas upon the future, and the underlying worldview of the individual expositing them.

Sometimes, our closeness to an individual prevents us from seeing an individual as they truly are. Usually, this causes us to gloss over the faults of our loved ones to remember them in a light probably a bit better than they really were as love covers over a multitude of sins.

However, the very opposite can also take place if something causes a relationship to become strained and if we are not careful the minor faults we all struggle with can cause us to look back upon those we were once fond of in an almost criminal light. This may be the perceptual trap Frank Schaeffer, son of the late apologist Francis Schaeffer, has fallen into when he claims his own father was worse than Barack Obama’s pastor Jeremiah Wright according to a March 21, 2008 WorldNetDaily.com article titled “Francis Schaeffer’s Son: ‘Dad worse than Obama’s pastor’.”
Continue reading “Schaeffer Progeny Kneels At The Feet Of Afrosupremacist Pastor”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Family - Immigration/Immigrants - Media Bias - News - Security/Safety - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

Border Fence Ruins Mother’s Day for Mexican Families

May 14, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

If you are looking for an eyerolling, maudlin Mother’s Day story, you don’t have to go any farther than the pages of the Washington Post to get a doosie. You see, Ashley Surdin of the WaPo gave us a tear-jerker of a tale about how the border fence between Mexico and the United States keeps Mothers from being with their children. Yes those mean Americans and their insistence on border security hurts Mommies. To that all I can say is, Oh brother!

In fact, the WaPo is even claiming that those poor Mexican Mothers can’t put their fingers through that nasty, rotten fence to touch the tears on their baby girl’s face because if they did they would be punished by the eeeevil U.S. government. And these poor, innocent Mommies are worried that things are getting worse because the U.S. is building “more fences.”

Again, I have to say “Oh, brother.” Are these people serious with this nonsense?

Look at this schmaltz…

Continue reading “Border Fence Ruins Mother’s Day for Mexican Families”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Family - Media Bias - News - Security/Safety - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

Nonsense ‘Survey’ Says Americans ‘Struggling in Life’

May 13, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

But this is just another so-called survey that is reported backwards. It turns out that, even by their unscientific criteria, 49 percent of the Americans they surveyed said that they were “thriving, with few health or money worries.” So, why is this reported as if the preponderance of our fellow citizens is claiming to be “struggling”?

Here is how Reuters begins their report:

Many Americans are struggling through life but only 4 percent are truly miserable, with no hope for the future, according to a survey released on Tuesday.

Nearly half — 49 percent — describe themselves as thriving, with few health or money worries, according to the researchers at the global polling organization Gallup and health consulting firm Healthways.

Then the report goes on to say that 47 percent claim they are “struggling” and that 4 percent are without hope.

So, why did the survey get reported that Americans are “struggling” when most said they were doing just fine? Why, because it makes for a better beat-up-America story, that’s why.

Continue reading “Nonsense ‘Survey’ Says Americans ‘Struggling in Life’”

00Publius Contributor - Family - Media Bias - News - Society/Culture - Thomas Brewton

Europe: The Dark Continent

May 3, 2008 by

-By Thomas E. Brewton

The light of God’s truth has been snuffed out in Europe, now the least Christian and the most secularized and socialized part of the world.

This week, Black Rock Congregational Church is focusing on worldwide missionary programs and the 20-plus missionaries that the church supports. In that connection, rather than a traditional sermon, we at Black Rock-Long Ridge Congregational Church (North Stamford, Connecticut) heard a report by Dr. Ted Noble, one of those missionaries. His subject was the appalling decline of Christianity throughout Europe.

Fewer than one percent of Europeans are Christian believers. Elsewhere, especially in Africa and Asia, the percentage is much higher and growing. Europe has become a spiritual wasteland in which people look to the political state for their salvation.
Continue reading “Europe: The Dark Continent”

00Publius Contributor - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Family - Media Bias - Nancy Salvato - News - Religion - Society/Culture

The Confluence of Religion & Freedom

May 2, 2008 by

-By Nancy Salvato

“Textbooks today are trapped in an ideological straitjacket that, in contrast to the surrounding popular culture, restricts content and sterilizes social realities.” – The Mad, Mad World of Textbook Adoption

I’ve always enjoyed learning about history. When I look back on my history classes, it wasn’t because I was interested in reading the textbooks, it was the teacher who made history come alive, by inserting anecdotes that made it “real,” showing footage of actual events, or by connecting what happened in the past to the present. As a matter of fact, most of the textbooks I used put me to sleep. I loved to read and often wondered why we couldn’t just read books instead of textbooks to learn about people, places, and events.

During my senior year of high school, learning was a little more fun because we read news magazines and newspapers for Current Events class and because we read works of fiction and non fiction in Language Arts. In college, history classes as an upper classman were the most compelling because there were no textbooks, just books on a particular aspect of history. All things considered, it is somewhat surprising that I majored in history without reaching the conclusion of many of my peers who believed history to be completely boring. I have to credit the teachers who made it a subject worthwhile.

Continue reading “The Confluence of Religion & Freedom”

00Publius Contributor - Education - Family - News - Religion - Society/Culture - Thomas Brewton

Cheap Grace

May 2, 2008 by

-By Thomas E. Brewton

Reactions of some nominal Christians to the message of Pope Benedict XVI are nothing more than liberal-progressive-socialistic “toleration.”

In his April 18th column for the Washington Post, E. J. Dionne, Jr. expresses the misgivings of liberal-progressives who enjoy the ritual of religion, but don’t want to be bothered with following the teachings of Jesus.

Mr. Dionne writes:

The most jarring word that Pope Benedict XVI is using during his visit to the United States is “countercultural.” The American sense of that term is shaped by the 1960s: free love, drugs, hippies, rock music and rebellion. Needless to say, that’s not what Benedict is preaching.

That word is the key to understanding how Benedict’s message runs crosswise to conventional liberalism and conservatism. Benedict came to the United States as a quiet but forceful critic of “an increasingly secular and materialistic culture,” as he put it during yesterday’s Mass. Almost any American who paid attention to his sermon had to be uncomfortable because all of us are shaped by the very forces he was criticizing.

Benedict directly challenged an assumption so many Americans make about religion: that it is a matter of private devotion with few public implications.

Continue reading “Cheap Grace”

00Publius Contributor - Family - Morals/Sex - News - Religion - Thomas Brewton

Slavery, Freedom, and Forgiveness

April 12, 2008 by

-By Thomas E. Brewton

Vengeful anger is spiritual slavery from which we are delivered by Christian love and forgiveness.

Sermons this Sunday and last Sunday at Black Rock-Long Ridge Congregational Church (North Stamford, Connecticut) were based upon Philemon, one of the shortest books in the Bible. These sermons were parts one and two of a three-part series on the subjects of duty, Christian love, and forgiveness.

Pastor Steve Treash focused today upon the need, and the immense benefit, of forgiving and releasing feelings of anger and revenge that too often we nurture when we believe that someone has wronged us. Last Sunday’s sermon dwelt upon the paradox of physical slavery and spiritual freedom and of the necessity to face up to wrongs we have done to others.
Continue reading “Slavery, Freedom, and Forgiveness”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Family - Media Bias - News - Society/Culture

Teachers Unions, School Administrators enlist the PTA to Push SB2288, HB750

April 3, 2008 by

From Education Matters.us

From our friends over at Education Matters.us

The PTA, Teachers Unions, and school officials are hosting a meeting on Saturday, April 12th to push the $8 Billion Dollar tax increase known as HB750 or SB2288. Since this is being hosted at a school, I wonder if any of the groups hosting the event are paying for the facilities or are the taxpayers footing the bill.

A+ Illinois Group is also promoting this education forum at Winston Campus 4/12: (see flyer, below; and proponents of the Tax Swap, HB 750 (2007)and SB2288 (2008)). District 15/211 Leaders also to attend (see below).

From a Flier:

Make your plans to attend and participate in the most important community forum ever focusing on public education in the Northwest Suburbs.

The Northwest Suburban Area
Community Forum on Public Education
Saturday, April 12, 2008
8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Winston Campus, Junior High
900 East Palatine Road
Palatine, Illinois

Community members, parents, school employees and patrons in the Northwest Cook and Lake County Suburbs are invited to attend this important community conference on education.

This event is free to all. Continental breakfast will be served.
Master of Ceremonies: Dann Gire, Film Critic, Daily Herald
Event Chair: Celina Watts, Region 43 Chair, Illinois Education Association
Outstanding featured presenters will include:

  • Robert McKanna, Ed.D, Superintendent, Palatine School District 15
  • William Dussling, School Board Member, Township High School District 214
  • Bob Kaplan, School Principal, Schaumburg District 54
  • John Braglia, President, District 211 Teachers Association, IFT
  • Keith Janosch, Special Education Inclusion Teacher, District 15
  • Alfonso Flores, Bilingual Teacher, District 15
  • Kathy Lange, 2005 National Educational Support Professional of the Year
  • Ilona Sala, President, Harper College Adjunct Faculty Association, IEA
  • Wayne Keen, Technology Support Specialist, River Trails District 26
  • Aaron Chun and Anthony Cerqua, Students, Lake Zurich High School
  • Joyce Sevarino, 2008 Illinois Educational Support Professional of the Year
  • Ruth Gloede, Assistant Superintendent CCSD 59

This event and open community dialogue session marks the first time in which parents, community members, the education community and leaders will come together in an open forum to discuss current issues and changes in public education in the Northwest Suburbs.

Conference planners expect a large turnout from the public, so secure your seat now.

Mark your calendar today!

Please RSVP to (847) 359-0300. Ask for Education Forum reservations.

Hosted by the Northwest Suburban Regions of the Illinois Education Association

Last year, the unions and school officials enlisted students and used taxpayer dollars to bus them to Springfield for a rally. I would venture to say they will probably do that again at some point this spring. To read the reports on last years taxpayer funded rallys:

Continue reading “Teachers Unions, School Administrators enlist the PTA to Push SB2288, HB750”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Family - News - Religion - Society/Culture - Thomas Brewton

Senator Obama and Christian Love

March 29, 2008 by

-By Thomas E. Brewton

Distressing remarks from the Senator’s pastor have been hashed and rehashed, but something more needs to be said.

In addition to assessing the inflammatory preaching by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright in terms of patriotism and decency, let’s also examine it from the viewpoint of Christian love.

Let’s acknowledge at the outset that we in the general public do not know the typical content of Rev. Wright’s sermons, whether his condemnation of the United States and of whites was an aberration or the norm.

Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God. (1 Corinthians 4:5)

But, however humanly understandable may be Rev. Wright’s vitriol reported in the media, it is far removed from the teachings of Jesus.
Continue reading “Senator Obama and Christian Love”

00Publius Contributor - Family - News - Religion - Society/Culture - Thomas Brewton

Good News From the Graveyard!

March 28, 2008 by

-By Thomas E. Brewton

Jesus is Risen!

Pastor Steve Treash preached the sermon for Easter Sunday at the Black Rock-Long Ridge Congregational Church in North Stamford, Connecticut.

The good news is that death is dead; fear has fled; and new life is ahead.

Jesus came to free us from the fear of death, to unite us with God in eternal life.

Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. (Hebrews 2:14-15)

Continue reading “Good News From the Graveyard!”

00Publius Contributor - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Family - Media Bias - News - Society/Culture - Thomas Brewton

Liberal-Progressive Mind Control

March 11, 2008 by

-By Thomas E. Brewton

Socialism, of which liberal-progressivism is the American sect, is more than control of the economy. Most importantly it is mind-control through the public education system.

The Washington Times reports the latest liberal-progressive-socialist curtailment of personal freedom.

“California courts have held that under provisions in the Education Code, parents do not have a constitutional right to educate their children in their own home,” said the Feb. 28 ruling by the California Appellate Court for the second district.

When they wish to overrule long-standing political liberties, liberals look to precedents of so-called international law and other nations’ customs. The socialist European Union, and Germany specifically, provide ammunition for abrogating educational liberties.

Why the animus of liberal courts and teachers’ unions against home schooling?
Continue reading “Liberal-Progressive Mind Control”

00Publius Contributor - Family - Morals/Sex - News - Religion - Society/Culture - Thomas Brewton

The Miracle of Restraint

March 8, 2008 by

-By Thomas E. Brewton

God, Who can impose whatever He wants upon the cosmos, chooses to give us free will.

Sunday’s sermon at Black Rock-Long Ridge Congregational Church (North Stamford, Connecticut) was preached by Pastor Larry Fullerton, who confessed that sometimes he wishes God were different.

How satisfying it would be if God employed His awesome power to smash Satan and his emissaries of evil. How gratifying if God alleviated all the suffering in the world. How uplifting for the whole world if God simply changed everyone’s spiritual life instantly, making all mankind believers in Jesus Christ.

Clearly Jesus’s ministry on earth satisfied none of these desires. The Jews expected a military messiah who would overthrow the Romans and re-establish David’s earthly kingdom. Even Jesus’s disciples, after living with him every day for four years, expected some sort of earthly kingdom, failing to grasp fully Christ’s Divinity and the nature of His mission until after the crucifixion and resurrection.

What emerges from scripture is the reverse of what people expected of the Messiah. Jesus used, not the powerful rulers or the established religious leaders, but the poor and lowly to demonstrate His power and to convey His message. Even when challenged directly by Satan, Jesus was remarkably restrained.
Continue reading “The Miracle of Restraint”

00Publius Contributor - Crime - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Family - Judges - News - Security/Safety - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

Our Weakened Sense of Right and Wrong

March 7, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

There is a growing number of Americans who have the conception that too many judges are weak on crime, that their judgments all too often mollycoddle criminals. It’s hard to quibble with such a conception, unfortunately. But we cannot merely cast blame on our judges and move on as if there is no other area of concern. While perhaps heightened, judges often are a reflection of our greater society and what they are reflecting is a sever degradation of our moral center.

A recent story about a small case in Winona, Texas, embodies all that seems broken not only with our judicial system, but with our education system, our immigration laws as well as the attitudes that so many of our youth employ towards their elders in society as a whole — It reflects the permissiveness in all.

The Tyler Morning Telegraph reported a tale of truancy, the courts and deportation last week that encapsulates much of what is wrong with this country today and it all boils down to rampant disrespect. Disrespect for our immigration laws, for education, for the courts, even for basic societal comportment.

The Morning Telegraph’s story centered around an astonished Smith County Justice of the Peace who resided over several truancy cases of twin teenaged sisters from the John Tyler High School.

Justice of the Peace Mitch Shamburger ruled over the cases of Brias and Lluva Amante, found them guilty, and fined them for repeatedly skipping class. Neither ever showed much respect for either the judge, the law or the seriousness with which they should be approaching their schooling. The twins persisted in snickering and giggling during each of the cases they were involved in showing disrespect to the judge.

Continue reading “Our Weakened Sense of Right and Wrong”

00Publius Contributor - Family - Morals/Sex - News - Religion - Society/Culture - Thomas Brewton

Modern-Day Moloch

February 29, 2008 by

-By Thomas E. Brewton

Worshipping the ancient Mediterranean god Moloch, and today’s liberal -progressivism, both require sacrificing children on the altar of self-centered materialism.

As G. K. Chesterton wrote in The Everlasting Man, ancient Rome’s great rival in the period of the republic was Carthage. Along with Tyre, at the eastern end of the Mediterranean, Carthage, in Chesterton’s characterization, was a Phoenician city-state dominated by commercial councils who cared little for spiritual religion based on principles of morality and benevolence. Everything was measured in money and goods, even propitiating the gods and seeking their favor.

Carthage’s principal deity was Moloch, a particular object of hatred by the Romans.

Rome’s deities were relatively benevolent, representing the spirit of home, hearth, and agriculture. In violent contrast, Moloch demanded of his worshippers a steady sacrifice of young babies, who were placed in the metal arms of Moloch’s image over a raging fire, where the infants were burned to death. In recent times, archaeologists excavating the site of ancient Carthage have uncovered altar sites surrounded by large numbers of human infant skeletons.
Continue reading “Modern-Day Moloch”

00Publius Contributor - Family - Religion - Thomas Brewton

God’s Will for Your Future

February 28, 2008 by

-By Thomas E. Brewton

There is an antidote to the feckless way too many of us live our lives.

Pastor Steve Treash at the Black Rock-Long Ridge Congregational Church (North Stamford, Connecticut) continued his examination of God’s will for our lives. His focus this Sunday was God’s will for our future.

The inescapable point is that God holds the clock on our lives. He knows when each of us is to die. We should know that dying without Jesus Christ is to consign our souls to eternal damnation.

What are our guideposts on the necessary spiritual journey?

First, Jesus is coming back. This is stated roughly 300 times in the New Testament.
Continue reading “God’s Will for Your Future”

00Publius Contributor - Family - News - Religion - Thomas Brewton

Decision Stress

February 23, 2008 by

-By Thomas E. Brewton

Technological advances and changing life styles confront the average person today with unprecedented numbers of often worrisome decisions to be made each day.

Pastor Steve Treash’s sermon today at Black Rock-LongRidge Congregational Church (North Stamford, Connecticut) focused upon guidelines for making Christian choices in our lives.

In the past, most women became housewives and mothers, assuming the primary role in holding the family together. Men tended to take jobs that followed in their fathers’ paths. Both men and women remained all their lives in or near their birthplaces.

Lower cost and ease of travel, coupled with instantaneous worldwide communications, have blown apart the traditional, intergenerational family as a cohesive unit. The rapidly proliferating numbers of choices for consumer goods, investment securities, and job opportunities, often far from home, engender pressure and anxiety.

When we worship false gods – wealth, power, and fame – pressures and anxiety increase.

How to deal with it? The answer, of course, is to turn to God.
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00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Family - Gays - Media Bias - Morals/Sex - Nancy Morgan - News - Society/Culture

All Sex, All The Time

February 22, 2008 by

-By Nancy Morgan

American culture is starting to resemble a teen-ager obsessed with bathroom jokes. Only America’s focus is riveted on sex. All sex, all the time. From Britney’s panties, to Anna Nicole’s lovers, to transgender rights to forced acceptance of homosexuality. If a story deals with sex, it sells.

The focus on sex, while prurient and titillating, has wider implications that have been overlooked. They involve redefining the family and undermining marriage by de-mystifying sex, (under the guise of ’empowerment.’) From advocating special rights for transgendered under the banner of ‘inclusiveness,’ to same-sex marriage under the banner of ‘discrimination,’ the left is making headway. Helped by America’s appetite for sex and our famed tolerance, the gradual acceptance of deviant behavior as normal is becoming, well, normal.

Last week, Hillary took Obama to task for not being as enthusiastic about homosexuality as she is. “I’m more pro-homosexual than Obama” she proudly claimed. All Democrat candidates are busy burnishing their credentials by signing on to the radical gay agenda, which has extended way beyond ‘tolerance’ to outright acceptance of anything that falls in the sexual arena.

Take Yale University. This week is set aside for “Sex Week.” Parents will have the satisfaction of seeing what their $45K per year buys. First up is a trendy competition to win a porn-star look-alike contest. Then students will proceed to the good stuff, like learning how to achieve a state beyond bliss and the proper application of lubricants. This is called higher education.

Other sex news last week included the confessions of a kinky college professor who was almost strangled in an S&M session. He’s ‘deeply ashamed’ and ‘finally through’ with the double life he’s led as a kid. Expect him to become the left’s new poster boy for courage.
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00Publius Contributor - Abortion - Democrats/Leftists - Family - Morals/Sex - News - Religion - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

Abortionist Happy to Kill — Free of all Moral Concern

February 20, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Want to see a moral disconnect? Want to see a person with an utter inability to even understand the definition of words? Check out this abortioner on the website flicker.com… She calls herself peskymac. We find a woman in her late 30s who has never had children and who imagines herself qualified to tell other women about their “reproductive rights,” as if she had any knowledge of motherhood.

On her profile she thinks of herself as a “Knitter, artist, gardener, voracious reader, amateur chef, occasional skydiver, wannabe travel writer, professional fundraiser, and total novice photographer.’ Naturally she is a “Progressive liberal and political observer.” She is “married with a menagerie of pets.” You can read that to mean she’s never had kids and probably doesn’t want the bother of them. Lastly, we find that she is the “newly-minted fundraising director for a reproductive rights non-profit.”

Now that we know our lovely Mz peskymac better, we can get to her recent posting on the joys of baby killing and her revelations of a complete lack of morals.

Continue reading “Abortionist Happy to Kill — Free of all Moral Concern”

00Publius Contributor - Abortion - Democrats/Leftists - Family - Health - Media Bias - Religion - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

YouTube Yanks Pro-Life Video, Allows Planned Parenthood Vids

February 15, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Of course YouTube has every right to disallow any video they deem unworthy of their service, this goes without saying. But, when YouTube sets up it’s own criteria for removing a video and then removes videos that do not fit its own criteria, then we have cause to wonder if a particular reason for banning videos is one that is kept secret from users. That secret reason would be a certain political bias used by Youtube to eliminate content. And, naturally, that bias is in favor of leftist causes and against the conservative ones.

Such is obviously the case with the recent removal of a video created by the American Life League that criticizes several promiscuous Planned Parenthood condom advertisements. The videos were removed, according to Youtube, because of an “inappropriate nature” and also because of complaints by YouTube members. But, the claim by YouTube that the ALL’s ad breached Youtube’s “inappropriate nature” rule does not stand up to logic or scrutiny, nor does it seem to fit their own publicly stated rules.

Last Monday, ALL received an email message from YouTube announcing the decision. The ALL website reports that, “The e-mail sent to American Life League said, ‘After being flagged by members of the YouTube community and reviewed by YouTube staff, the video below has been removed due to its inappropriate nature.'”

YouTube’s stated rules, however, do not seem to apply to the banned ALL video. Some of those rules are as follows:

  • YouTube is not for pornography or sexually explicit content. If this describes your video, even if it’s a video of yourself, don’t post it on YouTube. Also, be advised that we work closely with law enforcement and we report child exploitation. Please read our Safety Tips and stay safe on YouTube.
  • Don’t post videos showing bad stuff like animal abuse, drug abuse, or bomb making.
  • Graphic or gratuitous violence is not allowed. If your video shows someone getting hurt, attacked, or humiliated, don’t post it.
  • YouTube is not a shock site. Don’t post gross-out videos of accidents, dead bodies and similar things.
  • We encourage free speech and defend everyone’s right to express unpopular points of view. But we don’t permit hate speech (speech which attacks or demeans a group based on race or ethnic origin, religion, disability, gender, age, veteran status, and sexual orientation/gender identity).

The ALL ad takes snapshots, and snippets of the Planned Parenthood ads and then uses those to formulate their own political discussion of the funding that PP gets from our tax dollars. The ALL ad also discusses the salacious content of the PP ads and points out how the PP ads promote promiscuity.

This is all fair game in the arena of political discussion, it is certain. ALL does not alter the ads, nor do they play the whole ads straight through. Some context from the ads is given after which ALL promotes their political reply. Since the banning of the ads does not seem to fit the stated rules announced by YouTube, one must imagine that the political viewpoint is what has been deemed “inappropriate.”

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00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Family - History - News - Race - Religion

Black History Month, Martin Luther King, and Hypocritical Media!

February 7, 2008 by 1 Comment

-By Don Boys, Ph.D.

Martin Luther King, Jr. disgraced his race—the human race, and it is incredible that media moguls, black leaders, guilty whites, ad nauseam, continue to perpetuate the myth that he was a good man and one to be emulated, honored, respected, if not worshipped.

When I tell the truth about King and other black opportunists and criticize “Black History Month” my critics, rather than deal with my facts and conclusions, usually question my intelligence, my motives, if not my birth. They treat me the way I am accused of treating King. I simply ask people to deal with the facts, looking at his life not the color of his skin. My motives are important to me but do they really matter to others?

Every February it gets wearisome to hear Blacks tell us over and over how Black explorers, inventors, scientists, athletes, preachers, etc., have been the saviors of, if not the world, at least the U.S. Now, I am the first to admit that more black achievement should have been in our textbooks and much should be made of their work; however, all that should be included in American History, not Black History. And Afrocentrism should be considered nonsense.

If I were the hater and bigot I am accused of being then why are some of my dearest friends Black? Why would I have enormous respect for historical Blacks who make all Americans proud? Why would I be thrilled to have as neighbors Walter Williams, Thomas Sowell, or Clarence Thomas?

Continue reading “Black History Month, Martin Luther King, and Hypocritical Media!”

00Publius Contributor - Entertainment - Family - News - Race - Religion - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

‘I’m a Grown Ass man’… man

February 2, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

OK, I’m a nearly 50 year-old white dude, so you won’t catch me trying to be “all that” with the kid’s Rap music. In fact, I hate the stuff. (I was listening to Beethoven, Glen Miller, U2 and the Police today, if that helps pinpoint me?) HOWEVER… and this is a big one, too… I am compelled to pass on the latest tune from Mr. Bomani D. Armah, the self-proclaimed “not a rapper” rapper.

You may recall the last time Mr. Armah appeared in my work? He wrote a tune that appeared on BET TV called “Read a Mo F***ing Book”. It was a tune that featured Mr. Armah seeming to attack the thug lifestyle and telling black kids to read a “Mo F’ing” book, brush their teeth, wear deodorant and to raise their own children, etc. It raised quite a stir last year.

Since I wasn’t familiar with Mr. Armah’s work at the time, I was a bit puzzled by it all. I couldn’t be sure if he was denigrating the thug lifestyle and urging black Americans to better habits or what. I am now convinced that he was and he was doing so in the gutter language that he felt the kids would respond to. I cannot condone the language, but the sentiment is at least a good one. Personally, I can think of more upstanding ways to pass along a message of responsibility… but that’s just little old, un-hip me.

Well Mr. Armah is back with a new tune called “I’m A Grown Ass Man.”

Here he is telling young black men to raise their children, have grown up plans, and stop acting like punks. I have to say, it isn’t just a message for black kids, either. It is a message that every American male-child should hear and hear often, black, white or what have you. It is also one that they are not getting as often as they should, sadly.

Now, one thing is for sure. You can bet that the MSM will ignore this tune. They won’t want to be caught dead playing a tune that urges kids to grow up and act like a responsible men! It just ain’t the with it thing! (um… do they even say “with it” anymore?)

Anyway, I love the jazzy tune under the rap, too. I can’t help thinking of the work of Chick Corea when I hear it. There’s some good stuff there. All I can say is hear, hear. Good work Bomani D. Armah.

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Family - Media Bias - News - Religion - Security/Safety - Society/Culture

My Visit to Willow Creek: I Didn’t Know I Was in Church Until the Offering!

February 2, 2008 by

-By Don Boys, Ph.D.

People were walking toward the impressive auditorium from every direction. I got the impression of a crowd going to a sporting event. Almost every person was dressed as if they were. Out of thousands of people, I saw one man wearing a suit; most people were in shorts so I saw lots of leg. It was a very causal event. I did see five or six women carrying what seemed to be Bibles, although surely not a KJV! But then, I’m making an unsupported judgment.

Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, IL is having an incredible impact on “evangelical” churches as thousands of copycat congregations have been organized in recent years and many others have revamped their traditional services with a motive to replicate their success. Bill Hybels, the founding pastor, is more of a CEO than pastor. He was one of Bill Clinton’s counselors and defenders! He had Clinton in his church for a “no holds barred” interview in front of thousands of pastors on August 10, 2000, but Hybels only threw him “soft balls.” He did not ask about the many other allegations of sexual sins, even rape, by Clinton nor did he bring up the massacre at Waco. Zero, zilch. Yet it was a “no-holds barred” interview!

Hybels told the crowd, he thought Clinton’s confession in September 1998 was “an honest one, but that he never got credit from the American public for admitting his mistake.” “Mistake?” Hybels told the pastors that the president’s “confession” and “apology” was worthy of King David himself who committed adultery and murder! Clinton, he said, gave one of the most contrite and complete confessions he said he had ever seen! Astounding naiveté or dishonesty!

Continue reading “My Visit to Willow Creek: I Didn’t Know I Was in Church Until the Offering!”

00Publius Contributor - Family - News - Religion - Society/Culture - Thomas Brewton

What Is Worship?

January 31, 2008 by

-By Thomas E. Brewton

True worship is in every individual’s heart and soul.

Sunday’s sermon at Black Rock-Long Ridge Congregational Church (North Stamford, Connecticut) was preached by Pastor Josh Feay.

His message was that worship is realizing Who God is and giving thanks for what He does for us.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. (Romans 12:1)

Worship is more than the physical trappings of attending church services – music and a beautiful sanctuary.
Continue reading “What Is Worship?”