Works and Days » The Day After

Works and Days » The Day After: "It seems to me that conservatives have a golden opportunity to offer criticism and advice in a manner that many liberals did not during the last eight years. By that I mean I hope there are no conservative versions of the Nicholson Baker Knopf-published ‘novel’ Checkpoint, the creepy documentary by Gerald Range, the attempt to name a sewer plant after an American President, or the celebrity outbursts that we have witnessed with the tired refrain of Hitler/Nazi Bush—that all have cheapened political discourse. When I hear a partisan insider like Paul Begala urging at the 11th hour that we now rally around lame-duck Bush in his last few days, I detect a sense of apprehension that no Democrats would wish conservatives to treat Obama as they did Bush for eight years."

The Good of It

Even though my guy lost, last night was strangely cathartic. I had my doubts about the polls, but didn't think McCain was really going to pull a rabbit out of a hat.

One thing I did enjoy last night was watching Juan Williams of NPR on Fox. Juan is a Democrat and an African-American, and he supports Obama. However, he has also been critical of the media's coverage of an as well as Obama's lack of substance: in short, he is not just a Kool-Aid drinker and has earned my respect. Last night as he was speaking about the historocity of the first black president he couldn't help but choke up. I can only imagine how emotional this moment is, not just for blacks but other minorities as well.

Many don't know or understand what he stands for, he is just a symbol to them. It's ironic that it's taken the election of a Democrat to prove what conservatives have been saying for years: that America is not a racist country, that anyone can succeed.

Unfortunately this didn't stop a mob from gathering outside of the White House chanting "evict Bush now." There are simply too many on the left that are driven by hate. My fear is that even if Obama wanted to govern as a centrist (and there is some evidence that he would, for example on the makeup of economic team, and the fact that he has backed off saying he will immediately pull out the troops), he is beholden to the far left constituency and a far left Congress. And he has shown no record of breaking from Democrats in the past, voting with Nancy Pelosi 97% of the time.

He has pledged to NARAL to bring up the Freedom of Choice Act, which would bar states from restricting abortion in any fashion. That means no parental notification, and partial-birth abortion cannot be restricted by states. It would not have a mandate that a doctor treated baby that survives abortion: it would be okay to simply put that baby in a closet to die.

I will pray for President Obama. I will pray he will have wisdom and courage. I will pray that he not govern from the left, but from the center-right. And if he does not, I will pray for a conservative Congress in 2010 and a conservative leader (Palin? Bobby Indall? Mike Pence?) in 2012. But my prayer today is that everyone who thinks America is a hateful and racist country, e.g. those who have for too long listen to the Reverend Wrights and Louis Farrakhans of the world, disavow that notion. By God's grace, this is the greatest country on earth.

I'm *truly* pro choice.

I'm pro choice.

That may come as a surprise to many of you who know that I am ardently pro-life. Let me explain that I'm not changing my position; I'm simply taking back a term that has been hijacked: choice.

When people say they are pro-choice, they are really only referring to one choice, i.e., whether or not to prematurely end their pregnancy through abortion. Those of us who understand that a fetus is not an organism, but a stage in the development of a human being, are the ones who are *truly* pro-choice:

I want that baby to choose his favorite food, his favorite color, his favorite toy. To choose his best friend. His favorite stuffed animal. When he gets a little older he can choose whether he wants to be a fireman or an astronaut when he grows up. And then I want him to be able to change his mind every month after that.

When he starts school I want him to be able to choose who to sit by on the bus. In high school I want him to pick his first girlfriend and whether or not he will go to the prom. Then I want him to choose what college he wants to go to, who he is going to marry, and whether or not he still wants to be an astronaut when he grows up.

So the next time someone tells you they are pro-choice, ask them if they are, really.

YouTube - The Onion: Obama Undertakes Presidential Internship

YouTube - The Onion: Obama Undertakes Presidential Internship

Obama Feels A Righteous Wind

There goes another Bible-thumping Republican claiming to have God's will on his side.... oh wait a minute that's Obama making that claim- nevermind.

Obama's Abortion Extremism - Townhall.com

Robert George : Obama's Abortion Extremism - Townhall.com: "Barack Obama is the most extreme pro-abortion candidate ever to seek the office of President of the United States. He is the most extreme pro-abortion member of the United States Senate. Indeed, he is the most extreme pro-abortion legislator ever to serve in either house of the United States Congress.
Yet there are Catholics and Evangelicals-even self-identified pro-life Catholics and Evangelicals - who aggressively promote Obama's candidacy and even declare him the preferred candidate from the pro-life point of view."

Michelle Malkin » Crush the Obamedia narrative: Look who’s “gripped by insane rage”

Michelle Malkin » Crush the Obamedia narrative: Look who’s “gripped by insane rage”: "The Obamedia is attempting to set yet another false narrative: The narrative of the McCain “mob.” McCain-Palin rallies are out of control, they wheedle. Conservatives are mad! They’re yelling mean things about Obama and calling him names! It’ scaaaaary!"

The Church of Oprah Exposed

My carbon footprint is bigger than yours!

If you're like me, you may be concerned about your carbon footprint. You're probably wondering to yourself, "Am I doing enough to pollute the environment?"

But face it, you're busy. Budgets are tight. It's not like you can go out and buy a Hummer just so you can spew more carbon monoxide. And if you stop recycling, your neighbors may look at you funny.

Well, worry no longer. Through my new Carbon Debit Program, you can pay me to maximize your carbon footprint! For just $250 per debit, I can ease your conscience. So what exactly is a "carbon debit"? For the low price of $250, I will drive around the neighborhood for an extra 30 minutes, for the sole purpose of producing the smog you were too busy too.

But that's not all! Purchase the extra Landfill Option for $25 and I will litter profusely while I drive. For $500 you can purchase our Silver Package, which guarantees I will drive around for one hour in an SUV doing same as above, but within a 1 mile radius of an EPA- declared "endangered zone."

For $1000 and not only will I stop recycling for a week, but I will double- bag all of my groceries, get everything "to go" in restaurants, and turn my thermostat up to 75°,

So worry no longer that you're not doing enough. And don't forget to tell your liberal friends!

Planting Seeds of Disaster by Stanley Kurtz on National Review Online

Planting Seeds of Disaster by Stanley Kurtz on National Review Online: "You’ve got only a couple thousand bucks in the bank. Your job pays you dog-food wages. Your credit history has been bent, stapled, and mutilated. You declared bankruptcy in 1989. Don’t despair: You can still buy a house.” So began an April 1995 article in the Chicago Sun-Times that went on to direct prospective home-buyers fitting this profile to a group of far-left “community organizers” called ACORN, for assistance. In retrospect, of course, encouraging customers like this to buy homes seems little short of madness."

Democrats in their own words Covering up the Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Scam

An O-pology

I recently made an embarrassing mistake I need to own up to, because I always hold other Christians accountable when they make this mistake. I passed on what I thought was a fact before checking it out.

As Christians we need to make sure something is true before we affirm it's so. For example, rumors that BO is a secret Muslim. My mistake was passing on that Obama had supported on allegedly communist candidate in Kenyan politics as alleged in Jerome Corsi's "Obama Nation". Special thanks to Brian for pointing out that the allegations are based on spurious evidence at best.

In researching this article however I did come across some great in-depth stories on Obama's history with other unsavory characters and organizations. While I don't believe in guilt by association, you have to wonder why so many radicals, from Reverend Wright to William Ayres, are so in love with Obama if he's the "uniter" he claims to be. He talks a moderate game, but when you look at his (albeit thin) voting record, and even his much touted history as a community organizer working with verifiably communist groups such as ACORN (see article below), you see that he is quite possibly the most leftist candidate to ever run for the office of President.

His refusal to support The Born Alive Infant Protection Act is just one example of what an ideologue he is. "Change" is a great slogan. But Obama doesn't offer anything new- just the same old socialist utopian ideas wrapped in slick marketing.

Barack Obama, Abortion Extremist by Rich Lowry on National Review Online

Barack Obama, Abortion Extremist by Rich Lowry on National Review Online: "Asked by Pastor Rick Warren when a baby gets rights, Obama said, “I’m absolutely convinced that there is a moral and ethical element to this issue.” This is a crashing banality couched as thoughtfulness. If Obama is so sensitive to the moral element of the issue, why does he want to eliminate any existing restrictions on the procedure?"

What Did Obama Do As A Community Organizer? by Byron York on National Review Online

What Did Obama Do As A Community Organizer? by Byron York on National Review Online: "Barack Obama often cites his time as a community organizer here in Chicago as one of the experiences that qualify him to hold the nation’s highest office. “I can bring this country together,” he said in a debate last February. “I have a track record, starting from the days I moved to Chicago as a community organizer.”"

Joe Biden and American Charity by Byron York on National Review Online

Joe Biden and American Charity by Byron York on National Review Online: "It has become a common practice, when a presidential candidate releases his or her tax returns, for reporters and pundits to examine how much the candidate gave to charity. In September 1992, for example, when the Washington Post reported that Al Gore, then the Democratic candidate for vice president, had released his tax returns, the second paragraph in the story noted that out of income of $183,558, Gore “donated $1,727 — less than 1 percent — to charity.” Other stories about other candidates routinely included figures on charitable giving."

On Sex-Ed Ad, McCain Is Right by Byron York on National Review Online

On Sex-Ed Ad, McCain Is Right by Byron York on National Review Online: "In recent days, a consensus has developed among the Obama campaign and commentators in the press that John McCain has decided to lie his way to the White House. Exhibit A in this new consensus is McCain’s ad, released last week, claiming that Barack Obama’s “one accomplishment” in the field of education was “legislation to teach ‘comprehensive sex education’ to kindergartners.”"

Word of the Day for Sunday, August 17, 2008: philter \FIL-tur\, noun:

1. A potion or charm supposed to cause the person taking it to fall in love.
2. A potion or charm believed to have magic power.
3. To enchant or bewitch with or as if with a magic potion or charm.

Some things you can feel coming. You don't fall in love because you fall in love; you fall in love because of the need, desperate, to fall in love. When you feel that need, you have to watch your step; like having drunk a philter, the kind that makes you fall in love with the first thing you meet. It could be a duck-billed platypus.
-- Umberto Eco, Foucault's Pendulum

When it comes to Barak Obama, the American People seem to have consumed a philter.

Jesus and Easter Bunny

Gut Check

Best of the Web Today - WSJ.com: "Barack Obama got to be the Democratic presidential nominee in large part because he opposed from the start the use of U.S. military force to liberate Iraq. Hillary Clinton and John Edwards, by contrast, both voted for it. But an exchange in Saturday night's forum with Rick Warren raises serious questions about Obama's honesty vis-à-vis Iraq. Here it is:

Warren: What's the most significant--let me ask it this way. What's the most gut-wrenching decision you ever had to make and how did you process that to come to that decision?

Obama: Well, you know, I think the opposition to the war in Iraq was as tough a decision as I've had to make. Not only because there were political consequences, but also because Saddam Hussein was a real bad person, and there was no doubt that he meant America ill. But I was firmly convinced at the time that we did not have strong evidence of weapons of mass destruction, and there were a lot of questions that, as I spoke to experts, kept on coming up. Do we know how the Shia and the Sunni and the Kurds are going to get along in a post-Saddam situation? What's our assessment as to how this will affect the battle against terrorists like al Qaeda? Have we finished the job in Afghanistan?

But Obama's famous anti-Iraq speech, which he delivered Oct. 26, 2002, depicted the decision as anything but profound:

I don't oppose all wars. What I am opposed to is a dumb war. What I am opposed to is a rash war. What I am opposed to is the cynical attempt by Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz and other armchair, weekend warriors in this administration to shove their own ideological agendas down our throats, irrespective of the costs in lives lost and in hardships borne. What I am opposed to is the attempt by political hacks like Karl Rove to distract us from a rise in the uninsured, a rise in the poverty rate, a drop in the median income, to distract us from corporate scandals and a stock market that has just gone through the worst month since the Great Depression.

The speech did include a condemnation of Saddam, but it was a pro forma one--not a concession to the other side, but an inoculation against the charge that Obama was siding with a vicious dictator. In his speech, Obama gave no quarter to those who disagreed with him: no indication that there were any valid points on their side, or even that they might have been arguing in good faith.

Now Obama expects us to believe that opposing what he understood at the time to be no more than a "cynical attempt" by "armchair, weekend warriors" to "shove their own ideological agendas down our throats" and an "attempt by political hacks like Karl Rove to distract us" was the most gut-wrenching decision of his entire life.

Could it be that Obama did in fact agonize over the decision but decided not to share that fact with the voters until now? Perhaps, but why? Earlier in Saturday's interview, Warren asked Obama to name an incident in which he "went against your own best interest, for the good of America." Here is the relevant part of that response:

When I opposed the initial decision to go into war in Iraq. That was not a popular view at the time. And I was just starting my campaign for the United States Senate. And I think there were a lot of people who advised me, you should be cautious. This is going to be successful. The president has a very high approval rating and you could end up losing the election as a consequence of this.

If Obama told Warren the truth about his own deliberations in 2002, then he misled the voters back then by concealing his sympathy for (notwithstanding his ultimate disagreement with) what he believed to be a politically expedient position. Perhaps a psychiatrist could offer some elaborate explanation of why he would do this, but Occam's razor suggests that what Obama is saying now is simply at variance with the truth.

For Obama, Taxes Are About Fairness

Main Street - WSJ.com: "Now there are good reasons Mr. Obama is not likely to pursue the revenue side of the fairness question. As this newspaper noted in a recent editorial, the latest data from the Internal Revenue Service does not show to Mr. Obama's advantage. As we come to the end of the Bush administration, the top 1% of American taxpayers already pay 40% of all income taxes -- the highest level in 40 years. The top 10% of income earners pay 71% of the taxes."

Al Gore Places Infant Son In Rocket To Escape Dying Planet | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

Al Gore Places Infant Son In Rocket To Escape Dying Planet | The Onion - America's Finest News Source: "EARTH—Former vice president Al Gore—who for the past three decades has unsuccessfully attempted to warn humanity of the coming destruction of our planet, only to be mocked and derided by the very people he has tried to save—launched his infant son into space Monday in the faint hope that his only child would reach the safety of another world."

Stop the War on the Poor

Harry R. Jackson, Jr. :: Townhall.com :: Stop the War on the Poor: "Many of us have realized that most legislators on the Hill are advocating ideologically-based approaches to our energy problems. While Washington plays politics with American energy supplies, people are hurting – and the poor are hurting the most."

Word of the Day for Friday, July 18, 2008

tatterdemalion \tat-uhr-dih-MAYL-yuhn; -MAY-lee-uhn\, noun:

1. A person dressed in tattered or ragged clothing; a ragamuffin.
2. Tattered; ragged.

When compared to the Reagan era, today's Republican Party could be called a tatterdemalion.

Word of the Day for Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Word of the Day for Wednesday, July 16, 2008
mephitic \muh-FIT-ik\, adjective:

1. Offensive to the smell; as, mephitic odors.
2. Poisonous; noxious.

The policies of the Democratic Party are positively mephitic.

McDonalds: Billions and Billions Insulted

Liberty Counsel: "Liberty Counsel is joining the boycott against McDonalds. While referring to Christians and other people with traditional values, a McDonalds spokesman arrogantly stated, 'Hatred has no place in our culture,' suggesting that anyone supporting the historical definition of marriage is motivated by hate. The company has insulted everyone who supports traditional marriage. McDonalds might as well change their signs from 'billions and billions served,' to read 'billions and billions insulted.'"

Hitchens D'Souza Debate Book TV

America: Designed with Godly Intent, 1

Focus on the Family (Dr. James Dobson) - Broadcast Archives: "'Religion is the only solid basis of good morals. Therefore, education should teach the precepts of religion and the duties of man toward God,' said American diplomat Gouverneur Morris, the final man to sign the U.S. Constitution. What is the role of religion in America today? David Barton of WallBuilders – an educational organization that highlights America's forgotten history and heroes – gets back to the basics of U.S. history, taking a closer look at the nation's founding documents and their interpretation then and now."

Poll: Pet owners prefer McCain over Obama

KRLA 870 AM Intelligent. Conservative. Talk Radio: "If the presidential election goes to the dogs, John McCain is looking like best in show."

Abortion Causes Global Warming

Abortion Causes Global Warming

It is a sad fact that if you could prove a link between abortion and global warming many more people would be a pro-life. We would no longer have to rely on science and compassion to prove our point. We would not need to take the time to explain the fact that the "fetus" has a distinct and unique set of DNA from the moment of conception. No more arguing about "viability"- nevermind the fact that viability moves up earlier and earlier as medical technology improves. All we have to do is point out that when Planned Parenthood incinerates the "nonviable tissue," they contribute to greenhouse gases.

Actually just think how much our collective carbon footprint could be shrunk just by closing all of those planned parenthood clinics! Maybe we should impose a new fall profits tax on them!

Yes this is pretty sardonic-but just count how many times today you see the word "green"-in the stores you go to, the websites you visit, in the advertisements you see and hear.

Not my Wallet

McCain: Pump This!

McCain: Pump This! - HUMAN EVENTS: "It's always the same argument. Year after year, the 'moderate Republicans' so respected at The New York Times harangue us to dump the Christians, the conservatives, the Swift Boat Veterans, the 'right-wing extremists,' the gun-and-God clingers and the fanatical pro-lifers from our party so we can repel every American who voted for Ronald Reagan in order to win the votes of people like Christine Todd Whitman."

Spending Proposals by Senators

Very compelling information on proposed spending by Senators from the National Taxpayers Union. Check out all the "D's"at the top of the list!

Lee Vogler's Political Points: Obama's Spending Proposal is an Outrage

Lee Vogler's Political Points: Obama's Spending Proposal is an Outrage: "If Obama Could Enact All Of His Campaign Proposals, Taxpayers Would Be Faced With Financing Over $850 Billion In New Spending Over One White House Term"

"How Would God Vote?"

Townhall.com::Blog: "The campaign of 2008 has already witnessed the dramatic rise of the Religious Left, with Barack Obama and other liberals claiming scriptural authority for their big government versions of compassion. In this context, “How Would God Vote?”, the explosive new book by David Klinghoffer, provides an invaluable response. The subtitle says “Why the Bible Commands You to be a Conservative” and the book digs deep into scriptural text to emphasize that the Almighty demands individual commitment, rather than asking human beings to satisfy their obligations to their nieghbors through impersonal government policy."

Global Warming Hysteria

Global View - WSJ.com: "The Arctic ice cap may be thinning, but the extent of Antarctic sea ice has been expanding for years. At least as of February, last winter was the Northern Hemisphere's coldest in decades. In May, German climate modelers reported in the journal Nature that global warming is due for a decade-long vacation. But be not not-afraid, added the modelers: The inexorable march to apocalypse resumes in 2020.

This last item is, of course, a forecast, not an empirical observation. But it raises a useful question: If even slight global cooling remains evidence of global warming, what isn't evidence of global warming? What we have here is a nonfalsifiable hypothesis, logically indistinguishable from claims for the existence of God. This doesn't mean God doesn't exist, or that global warming isn't happening. It does mean it isn't science."

Carter, Obama, and the Evangelicals

KRLA 870 AM Intelligent. Conservative. Talk Radio: "Social actions – good works, if you will – are taught in scripture to be by-products of personal renewal, redemption, and commitment to “the faith once for all delivered to the saints.” They are the fruit, not the root, of faith. And those who bought into those ideas a century ago also learned that this activist emphasis was part of a larger systemic denial of basic truths explicitly taught in the Bible. They sought to “demythologize” the Bible (read: no miracles). By the time these spiritual and political antecedents were done, the book revered by so many as the Word of God had been reduced to a collection of a few benign directives about doing good."

Gay-Pride Parade Sets Mainstream Acceptance Of Gays Back 50 Years | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

Gay-Pride Parade Sets Mainstream Acceptance Of Gays Back 50 Years | The Onion - America's Finest News Source: "WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA–The mainstream acceptance of gays and lesbians, a hard-won civil-rights victory gained through decades of struggle against prejudice and discrimination, was set back at least 50 years Saturday in the wake of the annual Los Angeles Gay Pride Parade."

Obama’s Alternative (Energy) Reality - HUMAN EVENTS

Obama’s Alternative (Energy) Reality - HUMAN EVENTS: "bama’s government-dictated market-based plan uses the words “require” or “requirement” 21 times, and refers to spending (which he calls “investment”) 42 times. I’m no Milton Friedman, but I’m not sure that Obama knows what the word “market” means, when it’s not used as part of the name “Whole Foods Market.”"

Progress? So What::By Cal Thomas

Townhall.com::Progress? So What::By Cal Thomas: "If this headline writer were reporting victory in World War II, it might have read, 'America wins; German and Japanese Psyche Seriously Affected.' The 1968 moon landing might have read: 'Man Lands on Moon; Will It Hurt the Lunar Environment?' Or, 'Adam and Eve Marry; Gays Demand Similar Rights.'"

Sound Familiar?

Bush's America: 100% Al-Qaeda Free Since 2001::By Ann Coulter

Townhall.com::Bush's America: 100% Al-Qaeda Free Since 2001::By Ann Coulter: "In a conversation recently, I mentioned as an aside what a great president George Bush has been and my friend was surprised. I was surprised that he was surprised."

Obamacans

The Washington Times Inside Politics: "The largest group of Obamacons hail from the libertarian wing of the movement. And it's not just Andrew Sullivan. Milton and Rose Friedman's son, David, is signed up with the cause on the grounds that he sees Obama as the better vessel for his father's cause. Friedman is convinced of Obama's sympathy for school vouchers - a tendency that the Democratic primaries temporarily suppressed. Scott Flanders, the CEO of Freedom Communications - the company that owns The Orange County Register - told a company meeting that he believes Obama will accomplish the paramount libertarian goals of withdrawing from Iraq and scaling back the Patriot Act. ..."

New front opens on evolution wars

The Washington Times New front opens on evolution wars: "battle over science education could soon spill into the courts in Louisiana, where looming legislation would allow teachers to bring up scientific criticisms of evolution, global warming and other hot-button topics."

Who is Barack Obama?

The Washington Times OPINION: Who is Barack Obama?: "'We can't drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK. That's not leadership. That's not going to happen.'"

Harboring al Qaeda

Harboring al Qaeda: "THE SENATE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE has once again released a report claiming that the Bush administration hyped prewar intelligence. The so-called Phase Two report is supposed to investigate the Bush administration's handling of prewar intelligence. In reality, the report is little more than yet another attempt by partisan Democrats to make political hay out of flawed prewar intelligence. (The only Republicans to endorse the report were two of the Senate's most liberal GOP members.) The committee focused exclusively on prewar statements by Bush administration officials, ignoring similar statements by leading Democrats. Therefore, the report is intended to portray the Bush administration in the worst possible light. But even with this bias, the committee came to a noteworthy conclusion: The Bush administration was right to claim that Saddam's regime was harboring al Qaeda members."

The Washington Times PRUDEN: The faith healer for our time

The Washington Times PRUDEN: The faith healer for our time: "He's ready to rock. 'A light will shine through that window, a beam of light will come down upon you, you will experience an epiphany,' he told a raucous rally of the rapt in Lebanon, N.H., back in January. 'You will suddenly realize that you must go to the polls and vote for Obama.'"

Main Street - WSJ.com

Main Street - WSJ.com: "Barack Obama is no John Kennedy. And that may turn out to be a good thing. At least with regard to reversing one of the unintended consequences of Camelot: the idea that religious voices have no place on the public square.
[Obama, Religion and the Public Square]
AP

At first blush, Sen. Obama may appear to be an odd choice to lead such a reversal. Until very recently, he worshipped at a church whose preachers apparently regard America as something to be abhorred – and have a distressing penchant for being filmed while they do so. Earlier in the primaries, Mr. Obama took flak for his own comments describing small-town Pennsylvania as a place populated by those who 'cling to' religion because they are 'bitter.' And Mr. Obama's positions on hot-button issues like abortion – as a member of the Illinois Senate, he voted against legislation protecting a child who was born alive despite an abortion – put him at odds with many of those thought to represent the religious vote"

Check out my Slide Show!

Check out my Slide Show!

Democracies Don't Let People Die

Wonder Land - WSJ.com: "Next to Hillary Won't Quit, the least surprising news yesterday morning was the headline: China Rejects Quake Aid. Reasons on offer were that China wanted to prove its 'self-reliance,' difficult roads, blah, blah, blah. A virtual army of high-tech, highly skilled relief teams are ready to go into Wenchuan County, where mountains literally have fallen onto villages.
Wonder Land columnist Dan Henninger speaks to Kelsey Hubbard about why the Burmese and Chinese governments have rejected global aid in the wakes of their deadly disasters. (May 15)

Meanwhile, even as a second storm headed toward the same Burmese people hit by last weekend's cyclone, its military junta, a government of almost cartoonlike cruelty, continued to tell the helping world to get lost. The U.N. is now talking of a death toll exceeding 100,000. We know that number to be unnecessary because India warned Burma about the cyclone two days before it hit.

When a China or Burma and its people are in the throes of such catastrophe, one is loath to make invidious comparisons."

Buy my House!!!

Property Number: fx6690663 | Powered by 360pixs.com

Conservatives Really Are More Compassionate

Townhall.com::Conservatives Really Are More Compassionate::By George Will: "WASHINGTON -- Residents of Austin, Texas, home of the state's government and flagship university, have very refined social consciences, if they do say so themselves, and they do say so, speaking via bumper stickers. Don R. Willett, a justice of the state Supreme Court, has commuted behind bumpers proclaiming 'Better a Bleeding Heart Than None at All,' 'Practice Random Acts of Kindness and Senseless Beauty,' 'The Moral High Ground Is Built on Compassion,' 'Arms Are For Hugging,' 'Will Work (When the Jobs Come Back From India),' 'Jesus Is a Liberal,' 'God Wants Spiritual Fruits, Not Religious Nuts,' 'The Road to Hell Is Paved With Republicans,' 'Republicans Are People Too -- Mean, Selfish, Greedy People' and so on. But Willett thinks Austin subverts a stereotype: 'The belief that liberals care more about the poor may scratch a partisan or ideological itch, but the facts are hostile witnesses.'"

Faith, Race and Politics

KRLA 870 AM Intelligent. Conservative. Talk Radio: "Last Thursday evening I sat in the green room of the Hannity and Colmes show. It had already been a long week. I was thrilled to have an opportunity to point the nation to my new book Personal Faith, Public Policy. On the other hand, I was concerned about how black viewers would respond to my statements about Jeremiah Wright or Senator Obama. There has been an unspoken sentiment among blacks that we have to support Senator Obama at all costs."

KidZui's Parent Plan Lets Children Explore In Safe Corner of Web

Personal Technology - WSJ.com: "The Internet presents a real dilemma for parents with younger children. On the one hand, it's filled with fun and wholesome sites for kids, and lots of educational material. On the other, it teems with inappropriate content and potentially dangerous means of communicating with strangers."

Note to representative Steve King: shut your stinkin' trap!

When Republicans make comments like Iowa Representative Steve King did this week about Obama's middle name, all it does is play to the stereotype that Republicans are xenphobic racists. There are plenty of reasons not to vote for Barack Obama: what his middle name is is not one of them.

Shari's Surprise 40th

Shari & Friends sing The Lord's Prayer at CPC

Obama's politics of surrender - - The Washington Times, America's Newspaper

Obama's politics of surrender - - The Washington Times, America's Newspaper: "One year ago, in the wake of the Democrats recapturing Congress, it was unimaginable that in 2008, Republicans (or for that matter, any American politicians) would be emphasizing military and political successes in Iraq. But thanks to the outstanding leadership of Gen. David Petraeus and the men and women who participated in the Iraq troop surge, things have changed quite dramatically. For now, their achievements sem to have sapped the MoveOn.org, anti-war- movement crowd of much of its political support and energy."

The Price of Going Green - WSJ.com

The Price of Going Green - WSJ.com: "Most homeowners like the idea of going green -- until they get the bill."

Children, Children's Children: 'Stop Worrying About Us' | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

Children, Children's Children: 'Stop Worrying About Us' | The Onion - America's Finest News Source: "WASHINGTON—In a statement channeled back across generations to the present day, the nation's children and the nation's children's children called for an end to decades of passionate oratory over their well-being."

Area Liberal Worried His Asian Dry Cleaner Doesn't Like Him | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

I'm beginning to think there may be a token conservative on staff at The Onion! Area Liberal Worried His Asian Dry Cleaner Doesn't Like Him | The Onion - America's Finest News Source: "SAN FRANCISCO—Despite his open-mindedness and deep commitment to multiculturalism, Steve Bern, 32, expressed fear Monday that Rei Luo, the Chinese woman who does his dry cleaning, does not like him."

E-Mail From Aunt Accidentally Opened | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

E-Mail From Aunt Accidentally Opened | The Onion - America's Finest News Source: "CHICAGO—An otherwise routine e-mail-checking session went wrong when college student Gwen Petersen, 20, accidentally opened a message sent by her Aunt Sophie in Michigan, sources reported Monday."

Hiatal hernia - MayoClinic.com

Hear is where the true value of the Internet is made plain: when I can share with the entire world the findings of my upper endoscopy:

Hiatal hernia - MayoClinic.com: "A hernia occurs when one part of the body protrudes through a gap or opening into another part. A hiatal hernia forms at the opening in your diaphragm where your food pipe (esophagus) joins your stomach. Part of the stomach pushes through this opening causing a hiatal hernia."

How my twins saved my life by kicking loose a tumour while still in my womb | the Daily Mail

How my twins saved my life by kicking loose a tumour while still in my womb | the Daily Mail: "Like any thrilled mother to be, Michelle Stepney cherished the first kicks she could feel from her unborn babies.
But her lively twin girls were doing more than simply making their presence felt.
Each little kick was saving their mother's life."

Noah's 1st Movie

Samuel's Spina Bifida Surgery In Utero

Samuel's Spina Bifida Surgery In Utero: "As a veteran photojournalist in Nashville, Tennessee, I was hired by USA Today newspaper to photograph a spina bifida corrective surgical procedure. It was to be performed on a twenty-one week old fetus in utero at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. At that time, in 1999, twenty-one weeks in utero was the earliest that the surgical team would consider for surgery. The worst possible outcome would be that the surgery would cause premature delivery, and no child born earlier than twenty-three weeks had survived."

Bill Clinton: 'Screw It, I'm Running For President' | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

Bill Clinton: 'Screw It, I'm Running For President' | The Onion - America's Finest News Source: "CHARLESTON, SC—After spending two months accompanying his wife, Hillary, on the campaign trail, former president Bill Clinton announced Monday that he is joining the 2008 presidential race, saying he 'could no longer resist the urge.'"

The issue of life should never be on the back burner.

Polls consistently show either immigration or the war on terror as the most important issue in surveys of conservatives. The argument seems to go that if terrorists destroy the country, we will not have the luxury of debating the morality of abortion.

I would argue that regardless of the other issues, any civilized nation that allows infants to be killed for the sake of convenience is in deep trouble. How can we say to the Islamofascist, you won't kill our babies-only we can do that?

Obama is the Most Pro-Abortion Candidate Ever

KRLA 870 AM Intelligent. Conservative. Talk Radio: "Barack Obama is the most pro-abortion presidential candidate ever.
He is so pro-abortion he refused as an Illinois state senator to support legislation to protect babies who survived late-term abortions because he did not want to concede -- as he explained in a cold-blooded speech on the Illinois Senate floor -- that these babies, fully outside their mothers' wombs, with their hearts beating and lungs heaving, were in fact 'persons.'"

Democrats and religion - - The Washington Times, America's Newspaper

Democrats and religion - - The Washington Times, America's Newspaper: "Pop Quiz: Which presidential candidate opened a recent event in South Carolina with: 'Giving all praise and honor to God. Look at the day that the Lord has made.' Former Baptist Minister Mike Huckabee? Nope. Former Mormon Bishop Mitt Romney? Nah. Catholic school-educated Rudy Giuliani? Not even close."

McRomianihuckson

I've decided to create my own presidential candidate for the GOP. He is a hybrid of the current field incorporating the best features of each: Ron McRomianihuckson.

He has some of the libertarian leanings of Ron Paul but none of the geekiness and antiwar views; he has the bona fides of John McCain but none of his silliness regarding campaign finance reform; he has the smoothness and business sense of Mitt Romney; he has the no-nonsense style of Rudy Giuliani; the charisma and social conservatism of Mike Huckabee without the anti-Bush foreign-policy nonsense; and the "hands down" approach to global warming of Fred Thompson.

The question is will "McRomianihuckson" fit on a bumper sticker?

brothers!

 

Cell Phone Pix!

 

 

 

 

KRLA 870 AM Intelligent. Conservative. Talk Radio

The comic absurdity of the hysteria surrounding Gov. Mike Huckabee’s supposed “floating cross” TV commercial this week reminded me of a scene in one of my favorite movies of all time, “Absence of Malice.” The movie is great because it delves into the complicated world of newspaper ethics and features some great performances by Paul Newman and Sally Field.
KRLA 870 AM Intelligent. Conservative. Talk Radio

Politicians with a prayer - - The Washington Times, America's Newspaper

The surfacing of the “religion question” in the Republican presidential primary campaigns of both Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee has raised important issues and exposed much public confusion about the intersection of religion and politics.
Politicians with a prayer - - The Washington Times, America's Newspaper

Should Animals Be Doing More For The Animal Rights Movement? | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

Should Animals Be Doing More For The Animal Rights Movement? | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

Ryan T. Anderson on Abstinence on National Review Online#more

Virginia governor Timothy M. Kaine (D.) announced this November that he was rejecting a $275,000 grant from the federal government for abstinence education as he eliminated the state’s abstinence education program altogether. He couldn’t have picked a worse time to make his announcement.
Ryan T. Anderson on Abstinence on National Review Online#more

Pop Up Problem

Senate Panel Probes 6 Top Televangelists, Sen. Charles Grassley Asks Ministries To Turn Over Financial Records Within One Month - CBS News

The six ministries identified as being under investigation by the committee are led by: Paula White, Joyce Meyer, Creflo Dollar, Eddie Long, Kenneth Copeland and Benny Hinn. Three of the six - Benny Hinn, Kenneth Copeland and Creflo Dollar - also sit on the Board of Regents for the Oral Roberts University.CBS News

Noah and Date Sep 2005

 

homeschool homies

Family Manager - Control Central

You’re juggling many jobs—running a household, nurturing children, making a living. Many of you are caring for aging parents, finishing degrees, and volunteering in the community. You’re striving to maintain physical, emotional, and spiritual balance, and find time for personal development and fun.
Family Manager - Control Central

The Rise of the Religious Left

By STEVEN MALANGA
October 16, 2007; Page A21, WSJ

Everyone knows the potent force of the Christian right in American politics. But since the mid-1990s, an increasingly influential religious movement has arisen on the left, mostly escaping the national press's notice.

This new religious left does not expend its political energies on the cultural concerns that primarily motivate conservative evangelicals. Instead, working mostly at the state and local level, and often in lockstep with unions, its ministers, priests, rabbis, and laity exert a major, sometimes decisive, influence in campaigns to enforce a "living wage," to help unions organize, and to block the expansion of nonunionized businesses like Wal-Mart.

The new religious left is in one sense not new at all. It draws its inspiration in part from the Protestant "social gospel" movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, especially Baptist Minister Walter Rauschenbusch, who believed that the best way to uplift the downtrodden was to redistribute wealth and forge an egalitarian society. Rauschenbusch called for the creation of a kingdom of heaven here on earth -- just as presidential candidate Barack Obama did last week at a church in South Carolina.


The popular Catholic writer John Ryan also advocated that government enact pro-union legislation, steep taxes on wealth, and more stringent business regulation. When FDR adopted several of Ryan's ideas, the priest was given the sobriquet "the Right Reverend New Dealer." His popularity reflected the tightening alliance between America's mainstream churches and organized labor. That alliance disintegrated during the 1960s, when clerics like the notorious rebel priests the Berrigan brothers began to agitate for a wider range of radical causes -- above all, a swift end to the Vietnam War. The more culturally conservative blue-collar workers who formed the union movement's core wanted no part of this.

The alliance has been revitalized thanks in large part to savvy labor bosses such as John Sweeney, who grew up in a prototypical Catholic pro-union household. When Mr. Sweeney took over the AFL-CIO in 1996, union membership was shrinking -- from 24% of the work force 30 years ago to 14.5% in 1996 (and just 12% today). He told church leaders that "unions need aggressive participation by the Church in our organizing campaigns."

The AFL-CIO launched "Labor in the Pulpits," a program that encouraged churches and synagogues to invite union leaders to preach the virtues of organized labor and tout its political agenda. Nearly 1,000 congregations in 100 cities nationwide now take part annually. Mr. Sweeney himself has preached from the pulpit of Washington, D.C.'s National Cathedral, urging congregants to join anti-globalization protests in the capital.

Under the auspices of Labor in the Pulpits, Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist and Presbyterian clerics have composed guidelines for union-friendly sermons and litanies, as well as inserts for church bulletins that promote union legislation. One insert asked congregants to pray for a federal minimum-wage hike and also -- if the prayers didn't work, presumably -- to contact their congressional representatives. Another urged congregants to lobby Congress to pass the Employee Free Choice Act -- controversial legislation that would let unions organize firms merely by getting workers to sign authorizing cards, rather than by conducting secret ballots, as is currently required.

The Chicago-based, union-supported Interfaith Worker Justice (IWJ) arranges for seminarians to spend the summer months working with union locals. Some 200 seminarians have helped unionize Mississippi poultry workers, aided the Service Employees International Union in organizing Georgia public-sector employees, and bolstered campaigns for living-wage legislation in California municipalities.

Working with IWJ, the labor movement has spawned some 60 new religious left groups, ranging from the Massachusetts Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice to the Chicago Interfaith Committee on Worker Issues to the Los Angeles-based Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (Clue). In Los Angeles, Clue clergy helped crush several 2005 statewide ballot initiatives that unions opposed, including one that gave union workers the option of not paying dues that would fund union political activities.

In Memphis, clergy fought relentlessly -- via newspaper op-eds, public fasts, and preaching -- for the passage of living-wage bills that since 2004 have forced local businesses to hike wages well above the federal minimum. Labor-religious coalitions have worked spectacularly well: Some 125 municipalities have passed living-wage laws.

More than 100 religious organizations support IWJ financially, including the National Council of Churches of the USA (NCC), an umbrella organization of nearly 40 mainstream Christian denominations. The Presbyterian Church (USA), the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and the Episcopal Church are particularly active. The alliance between labor and the religious left also enjoys the powerful backing of the Catholic Church, whose American hierarchy, though often conservative on social issues, is firmly left-wing in its economic views.

Despite decades of economic progress that have reduced unemployment levels to record lows and made America a magnet for opportunity-seeking immigrants, leading clergy of the religious left depict the free market as a vast exploitative force, controlled by a small group of godless power brokers. Clergy describe Wal-Mart, for example, in terms that its thousands of suppliers, millions of employees, and tens of millions of customers would hardly recognize. The Reverend Jarvis Johnson, an IWJ board member, has urged congregants to invite the "hurting, blind and crippled" to a metaphorical banquet. Who are these poor, abused souls? "They are Wal-Mart associates who have to wait six months to a year to qualify for a health-care plan," Mr. Johnson explained.

Religious left leaders blindly refuse to acknowledge the considerable academic research showing that mandated wage hikes often eliminate the jobs of low-skilled workers -- the very people whom it seeks to help. David Neumark, for example -- a researcher at the University of California at Berkeley's Institute of Business and Economics Research and one of the world's foremost authorities on wage laws -- has found that while living-wage laws do boost the income of some low-wage workers, they also have "strong negative employment effects." That is, they vaporize jobs. In one study, Mr. Neumark noted that a 50% boost in the living wage produced a decline in employment for the lowest-skilled workers of between 6% and 8%.

Religious left clerics also ignore the evidence that much poverty in prosperous, opportunity-rich America results from dysfunctional -- dare one call it "sinful"? -- behavior. Around two-thirds of poor families today are single-parent households, largely dependent on government subsidies and headed by women with little education. The entry-level, low-wage work for which these mothers are qualified makes it hard to support large families. And the time they must devote to raising their kids makes it hard to climb the economic ladder. Poverty is increasingly about the irresponsible decision to have children out of wedlock. In many inner city communities where poverty is entrenched, 75% of all children are now born out of wedlock.

In any event, the religious left's sympathies do not seem to be those of churchgoers. While the NCC and its member churches pursue a variety of left-wing causes -- even partnering with the activist organization MoveOn.org and featuring speakers like Michael Moore at events -- a Pew poll found that 54% of white, mainline Protestants and 50% of Catholics voted Republican in the 2004 presidential elections. Those who attended church regularly voted Republican even more heavily -- at nearly the same rate as evangelical Christians, in fact.

For four decades, as the leadership of America's mainline churches has moved steadily leftward, those churches' memberships declined as a percentage of the U.S. population while the number of Christian evangelicals exploded. Left-wing clerics may be buying greater political influence with their alliance through organized labor, but the price may be further alienating their shrinking flock.

Mr. Malanga is senior editor at the Manhattan Institute's City Journal, from whose autumn issue this is adapted.

S.N.L. Skit Spoofs Thompson - The Caucus - Politics - New York Times Blog

A sure indication that perceptions of Fred Thompson, the Republican presidential candidate, as a little slow-off-the-mark are already beginning to solidify in the public mind: “Saturday Night Live” featured a couple of jokes painting him as such, and, most potentially devastating, Darrell Hammond did an impression of him as doddering and playing HARD off his “Law and Order” fame.S.N.L. Skit Spoofs Thompson - The Caucus - Politics - New York Times Blog

HEATED DEBATE-Split Over Global Warming Widens Among Evangelicals

Texas Christians Cite Conflicting Scripture; Staying 'On Mission'
By ANDREW HIGGINS
September 28, 2007; Page A1

WACO, Texas -- Suzii Paynter, director of the public policy arm of Texas's biggest group of Baptist churches, traveled to central Texas early this year to talk to a local preacher about a pressing "moral, biblical and theological" issue. She wanted to discuss coal.

Christians have a biblical mandate to be "good stewards of God's creation," Ms. Paynter says she told the Rev. Frank Brown, pastor of the Bellmead First Baptist Church here in the county where President Bush has his ranch. So, Texas Baptists should demand that controversial plans to build a slew of coal-fired power plants be put on hold.


Mr. Brown was not impressed. God, the pastor said, is "sovereign over his creation" and no amount of coal-burning will alter by a "millisecond" his divine plan for the world. Fighting environmental damage is "like chasing rabbits," he recalls telling her. It just distracts from core Christian duties to spread the faith and protect the unborn.

Ms. Paynter and Mr. Brown, devout Baptists both, stand at opposite ends of a debate over the environment that has been roiling America's potent but often fractious community of evangelicals. Christians have been arguing about coal in Texas, oil drilling in Alaska and hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico. The most charged issue of all is climate change, a focus of world attention this week with conferences at the United Nations and in Washington, D.C. America's Christians are divided on basic questions: How serious is it, what causes it, and what should mankind do about it?

All sides cite the Bible. Ms. Paynter points to a New Testament passage that says the good shepherd does not exploit his sheep and to a psalm that declares "the earth is the Lord's and all its fullness." Mr. Brown quotes an Old Testament verse promising that "while the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall not cease."

Behind the theological disputation, however, is a struggle grounded in the here and now. Who speaks for American evangelicals, and on what issues? Evangelicals in the U.S. share a cluster of core principles: belief in the authority of the Bible, a determination to spread the faith and a commitment to salvation through Jesus. But defining the group beyond that is difficult. They also have a long history of quarrels over their agenda and tension over leadership, particularly since the rise in the 1970s of the formidable political force known as the "religious right."

The dispute over the environment has gained urgency in the run-up to next year's presidential election. Liberal Christians have long championed green issues. Some of their more conservative brethren, particularly in Washington, then joined them in that cause. Now, as anxiety over the environment seeps into the evangelical heartland of the South, pastors and ordinary believers are also wrestling with what was long scorned as a left-wing fetish. A look at how the struggle is playing out in Texas shows the different forces at work -- and suggests its outcome is unlikely to be resolved soon.


"Global warming is a proxy battle," says the Rev. Jim Ball, a graduate of Baylor University, a Baptist college in Waco, and now head of the Evangelical Environmental Network, a group set up in 1994. The combatants are "those moving forward on a broader agenda, and those who want to keep evangelicals focused on just three things -- abortion, judges and gay marriage."

The split is also a struggle between generations, says the Rev. Benjamin Cole, a 31-year-old Baptist preacher from Texas. A blogger on Southern Baptist affairs, Mr. Cole says some younger evangelicals are tiring of lock-step loyalty to the Republican Party. "We wake up each morning and see an elephant on the pillow next to us," he says.

But many veteran leaders of the religious right regard the green movement as a dangerous distraction. Shortly before his death in May, Virginia Baptist preacher the Rev. Jerry Falwell denounced the clamor over global warming as "Satan's attempt to redirect the church's primary focus."

Evangelical Christians have been the Republican Party's most-loyal constituency in recent years. In 2004, 78% of white evangelicals voted for George W. Bush, according to exit polls. Democrats are working hard to dent this alliance. Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, a churchgoing Roman Catholic, frequently refers to scripture to support her calls for action against global warming.

"They've really got traction going when it comes to planting trees and reducing greenhouse gases," says Paul Weyrich, an early pioneer of Republican outreach to conservative Christians who heads the Free Congress Foundation, a Washington think tank.

An episode this spring brought national attention to the brewing dispute. Mr. Weyrich joined two dozen other conservative Christian leaders in warning that global warming "is dividing and demoralizing" evangelicals. In a letter to the National Association of Evangelicals, they denounced the umbrella group's Washington-based vice president for governmental affairs, Richard Cizik, an outspoken champion of action against global warming. They demanded that he shut up or resign.

The NAE's board backed Mr. Cizik, who has continued to speak out. Combating climate change, says Mr. Cizik, is no longer just for "latte-sipping, endive-eating elitists from Harvard" but a core issue for all Christians.

How many evangelicals share this view is hard to assess. Each side has its own poll results. A summer survey commissioned by the Evangelical Climate Initiative, group of prominent Christians alarmed by rising temperatures, found that 70% think climate change will pose a "serious threat" to future generations and 64% want immediate action to curb it. The unpublished survey, due to be released next month, was carried out by Ellison Research, a private company. A separate poll carried out around the same time by Barna Group, a conservative Christian research outfit, used a narrower definition of evangelicals and found that only 33% consider global warming a "major problem."

Splits among Baptists in the South are particularly pronounced. Former Vice President Al Gore, a churchgoing Baptist from Tennessee, has become the nation's best-known campaigner against global warming. But the Southern Baptist Convention, which claims more than 16 million members, stands with skeptics. "We don't believe in global warming," said a veteran preacher at the convention's annual meeting this June in San Antonio, Texas. The meeting passed a resolution that dismissed as "very dangerous" proposals to regulate carbon-dioxide emissions and asserted that scientists disagree on the cause of rising temperatures.

Earlier this year, an international panel of hundreds of scientists concluded that human activity is "very likely" the main driver of global warming.

David Gushee, a Southern Baptist professor of Christian ethics, denounced the San Antonio resolution as akin to the organization's previous refusal to combat racism. Mr. Gushee, who helped draft a Southern Baptist Convention apology for past racism in 1995, says, "I don't want to be writing another resolution of regret in 50 years time" about the environment.

American evangelicals are a vast community with sometimes widely divergent views. They are generally thought to number upwards of 100 million people but estimates vary widely depending on how they are defined. In the 19th century, evangelicals split on the issue of slavery. The civil-rights movement in the 1960s caused further splintering, as did a host of theological and personal squabbles. The 1960s also saw wrangling over the environment.

In speeches at Wheaton College in 1968, Francis Schaeffer, a hugely influential evangelical intellectual who died in 1984, criticized fellow Christians for neglecting "God's creation." Though a conservative, he hailed "hippies" for their attacks on "the poverty of modern man's concept of nature." His remarks were collected in a 1970 book, "Pollution and the Death of Man."

But Mr. Schaeffer's call to arms over the environment was soon drowned out by another cause he championed: the war on abortion. He became a fiery leader of pro-life Christians following the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing the procedure.

"Suddenly, abortion was a litmus test for everything," recalls Mr. Schaeffer's son, Frank, who followed in his father's footsteps but has now broken with conservative evangelicals. Frank Schaeffer, who has just written a memoir called "Crazy for God," says the late Mr. Falwell and others "deformed and distorted" his father's legacy. He is rooting for those who want to widen the evangelical agenda to include action on global warming.

Francis Schaeffer's role as both a pioneer of the pro-life movement and an early environmentalist underscores the varied strands of the conservative evangelical movement. Those strands are on full display in Texas.


One fan of the late Mr. Schaeffer is the Rev. Jack Graham, chief pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church, a stadiumlike house of worship in Plano, Texas, that seats 7,000 faithful. Mr. Graham, a former president of the Southern Baptist Convention, is a big supporter of President Bush, but says he is happy to challenge stereotypes about evangelicals. "We don't believe the Earth is flat," he says.

Yet his skepticism about science runs deep. Prestonwood's bookshop stocks a host of books seeking to debunk the theory of evolution, and its parking lot is packed each Sunday with gas-guzzling sports-utility vehicles. "I have a lot more people asking, 'How can I get through the week?' than about the future of the planet," says Mr. Graham. Christians, he says, have to be careful not to "worship creation instead of the Creator."

Nonetheless, he says, they must not abuse nature, either. Mr. Graham is agnostic on the main cause of global warming but thinks science is "tilting towards human activity as contributing to the state of the world."

Prestonwood last year began a drive to save energy and, in December, was named America's "best green church" at a Dallas conference of church builders, suppliers and managers. It recently installed a computerized system to control its outdoor sprinklers and cut down on wasteful watering of its 140-acre grounds. The church has throttled back on air conditioning, started switching to environmentally friendly fluorescent light bulbs and taken lights out of many vending machines. A full-time "energy manager" prowls the premises after hours, leaving admonishing notes for staff who neglect to turn off lights and computers.

One big motive for all this is money. Prestonwood, which has its own school, TV station, five basketball courts and eight sports fields, has cut its utility bills by $1.1 million since summer last year, when it hired Dallas-based Energy Education Inc. to advise it on how to save energy. But, says Mr. Graham, another reason is the Bible. "Biblical Christianity," he says, quoting Francis Schaeffer, "has a real answer to the ecological crisis."

Other Texas Christians are also trying to conserve energy, including Ms. Paynter, who heads the Christian Life Commission, the public-policy branch of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, a group that Mr. Graham views as insufficiently conservative. Ms. Paynter's Baptist church in Austin, pastored by her husband, teaches "creation care" at summer Bible camp, gets a portion of its power from a renewable-energy grid and has set up recycling bins.

But unlike Mr. Graham, Ms. Paynter is in no doubt about man's role in global warming and considers air quality and other environmental issues as matters of urgent concern. She says her interest was sparked when, at an event for children, she noticed that about 10 of 35 kids present had asthma inhalers.

In poorer, more rural parts of Texas, however, green issues still struggle for a hearing from believers infused with "end times" theology, the conviction that the world will inevitably come to a cataclysmic end and that nothing can or should be done to delay this.

After his discussion with Mrs. Paynter, Mr. Brown, the Baptist preacher in Bellmead near Waco, wrote a lengthy blog entry denouncing environmentalism as a red herring. "Our concern is not to spend hours and hours on how to keep the globe from warming; that is the enemy of hope," he wrote. "Our command is that...we storm the gates of Hell and keep the enemy on the run by the grace of GOD!"

When Ms. Paynter urged Baptists to join the coal power-station debate, she got angry phone calls and messages from outraged preachers and ordinary Baptists. "I do hope our tithes and offerings are not supporting this type of activity," read one email. "Let's stay on mission and keep proclaiming the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ."

But other Baptists cheered. Mary Darden, a deacon of a big Baptist church next to Waco's Baylor University, organized a group called "Keep Waco Green." Though a firm Democrat, she rallied both liberals and conservatives in opposition to plans by TXU Corp. and another utility to create what environmentalists called a "ring of fire" around Waco with plans to build four coal-fired power plants in the region.

The Waco region's Baptist association helped out by informing members about a public meeting to protest the plants.

In March, opponents of the plants declared victory after investors announced a buyout of TXU and promised to scale back on their expansion plans. Ms. Darden organized a celebratory dinner and dance. The "Coal Plant Victory Bash" was attended by secular environmentalists, a conservative state legislator and Christians of all political stripes. Among them was John Wessler, a conservative Christian and a "Keep Waco Green" activist. "God created a balance and we were about to go way out of balance in Waco," he says.

Mr. Wessler, a health-care adviser, says he got involved out of fear that the plants might spew toxins such as mercury and hurt the health of his family. His daughter has asthma. Now he says he's paying more attention to global warming, too, and thinks it "logical" that man is to blame. He's thought about buying a Toyota Prius hybrid car to replace an old Mercedes. But, he says, "I'm not there yet."

NPR : Bishops Move to Ease Concerns on Homosexuality

Bishops in the Episcopal Church have crafted a document they hope will ease conservatives' concerns in the United States and abroad. In Africa and South America, which have the most active members in the worldwide Anglican Communion, bishops wanted a statement from the Americans about the direction of the church — and specifically on its views on homosexuality.NPR : Bishops Move to Ease Concerns on Homosexuality

Worship Goes Big-Screen and Hi-Fi, With Direct-Deposit Tithing - washingtonpost.com

"At First Baptist Church of Glenarden in Prince George's County, parishioners who don't make it to church on time are directed to an overflow room to watch the Sunday service on a huge projection screen. If they can't make it to church at all, they can catch the service online, anytime."Worship Goes Big-Screen and Hi-Fi, With Direct-Deposit Tithing - washingtonpost.com:

NPR : Pastor Brings Jesus into an L.A. Dance Club

NPR : Pastor Brings Jesus into an L.A. Dance Club

The least popular children's book of all time

 

Joe Carter on God’s Warriors on National Review Online

For several weeks CNN has been hyping their miniseries God’s Warriors as an “unprecedented six-hour television event.” The series dedicates two hours each to “God’s Jewish Warriors,” “God’s Muslim Warriors,” and “God’s Christian Warriors.” Prior to the first airing, CNN invited several bloggers to preview a few clips from the series and to submit a question for Christiane Amanpour to be answered during a special webcast.
Joe Carter on God’s Warriors on National Review Onliner

Robert Rector on Poverty on National Review Online

The Census Bureau will release its annual report on poverty in America tomorrow. The report will show, as it has in recent years that around 37 million people live in official poverty. Presidential candidate John Edwards, who hopes to lead the nation in a new crusade against poverty, will, no doubt, seek to reap much publicity from the report.
Robert Rector on Poverty on National Review Online

Youngest Brother was going to kill Oldest Brother, but Middle Brother tips hime off...

Dan,

Jon asked me to keep this a secret, but I thought you should know.
See the forwarded message below.

Tim

On Aug 7, 2007, at 3:43 PM, jon harper wrote:

Tim--

I have been thinking about killing Dan. No real reason, just
something to do. Also, there is a cool new reality show on the CW
tonight. Don't tell Dan. I mean about killing him. You can tell him
about the show--who cares if he watches it if I'm going to kill him.

Authentically yours,
Jon

FOXNews.com - Fred Thompson, the Second Coming of Ronald Reagan? - Opinion

In 1980 presidential candidate Ronald Reagan transformed American politics when, speaking to an audience of Evangelical Christians, he declared: "You can't endorse me, but I endorse you."
FOXNews.com - Fred Thompson, the Second Coming of Ronald Reagan? - Opinion

I Heart Huckabee: 'Likeable' Mike Takes Second Place in Iowa Straw Poll -- 08/13/2007

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee says he has new momentum heading into the next phase of the Republican presidential campaign following his second-place finish in the Iowa Straw Poll on Saturday.
'Likeable' Mike Takes Second Place in Iowa Straw Poll -- 08/13/2007: "Huckabee "

Amazon.com: MANGROOMER Do-It-Yourself Electric Back Hair Shaver: Health & Personal Care

You laugh but I want one!

MANGROOMER Do-It-Yourself Electric Back Hair Shaver: Health & Personal Care

John Edwards Vows To End All Bad Things By 2011

John Edwards Vows To End All Bad Things By 2011 | The Onion - America's Finest News Source: "AMES, IA—In an effort to jump-start a presidential campaign that still has not broken into the top Democratic tier, former Sen. John Edwards made his most ambitious policy announcement yet at a campaign event in Iowa Monday: a promise to eliminate all unpleasant, disagreeable, or otherwise bad things from all aspects of American life by the end of his second year in office."

OC, MD-2007 July