Freedom of Religion and Giving Offense

The first ten amendments of the Constitution of the United States of America are called the “The Bill of Rights”. These rights, and those enumerated in the amendments that follow, exist for ONE reason…to limit government’s power over individuals.

The First Amendment to the Constitution reads:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”

It is a historical fact that this country was founded on the premise of freedom of religion. That was why the first Europeans came here. They rejected the authority of their various countries to establish state religions. That is why the first freedom enumerated in the Bill of Rights deals squarely with the subject of religion. What it says is that the government will make NO law respecting the establishment of a particular religion as a state religion.

What it has been interpreted to read is: “There will be a separation between church and state.” That statement is nowhere to be found in the Constitution. This interpretation has been extrapolated to mean that the government will not allow any religious displays in public places or on public airwaves. Anyone who attempts to honor God in a public place or ask Him to bless this nation thus violates federal law.

Anyone who advocates actually keeping the Ten Commandments is narrow minded and ignorant because concepts of Right and Wrong are culturally relative and Gods Commandments may offend someone if they actually have to see them in a public place.

To offer a prayer before a sporting, or other public, event is now to violate federal law. Because a prayer may ‘offend’ someone it is now illegal in public places.

It's OK for the football players in the NFL , who many young people look to as role models, to be convicted felons, drug users, misogynists or simply egotistical fools because those things are freedom of expression. But when a player like Tim Tebow offers a silent prayer of thanks to his Creator for his athletic ability...it's offensive!! People might actually have to think about the possiblity of they're being a God for a second of their lives!

It’s OK for a comic to use the most vile, disgusting language in their act because…it’s freedom of speech.

It’s OK to fill the airwaves and the Internet with all forms of perversion…from sex with animals to sodomy and rape to torture and murder…because that’s freedom of speech.

In America today it is OK to promote sexual perversion as an ‘alternative lifestyle’ regardless of whom it offends…because that’s freedom of expression.

It’s OK to promote sexual promiscuity, as long as one practices ‘safe sex’ regardless of whom it offends…because that’s freedom of expression.

It’s OK to advocate the wholesale murder of the unborn, because the labels of those doing so don’t recognize them as human beings. Abortion is simply a ‘viable method of birth control.’ Anyone who sees an unborn child as anything more than a mass of tissue is ignorant and unenlightened. And that ‘offends’ the more enlightened among us. (It is usually the same 'enlightened' people who are so ardently against the death penalty for murderers and other violent criminals.)

It’s OK to refer to Christians as bigots, homophobes, sexists, misogynists, racists and simple minded, ignorant fools…because that only offends Christians….and it’s freedom of speech.

It is OK for Muslims who come to this country, expecting us to accept their cultural and religious practices, to be offended at our cultural and religious practices. (We don’t want to offend those who have called us their sworn enemies after all…)

Americans are supposed to be ‘tolerant’ of anyone and anything…except God and His Commandments.

This is not only inconsistent as a matter of law, it is Evil disguised as Good!

This is NOT the America our founding fathers envisioned! This is NOT the America that our veterans fought for in the wars we've taken part in. We fought for freedom of religion...not freedom from religion. We have turned our backs on our Creator...the ONE our Declaration of Independence says gave us our rights!

It is time Jews and Christians got offended at our country revering in decadence all the while being told that our values, the Judeo-Christian values that this nation was built on, may offend someone if they actually had to see or hear them!

Something is VERY WRONG here!

Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!        Isaiah 5:20

On Love

Love is the most popular subject in our music and our poetry but it’s also one of the most misunderstood concepts in the world. We’ve all heard someone say things like: “I just love my wife so much I’d kill her if she ever left me”. Even with as much as we obsess over the subject, as a society, I believe we are somewhat uncomfortable with the subject of love. We’re not quite sure how or when to express it. It is often mistaken for weakness and we don’t want to appear weak. Even in churches where love should be taught as a part of the Gospel of Christ it is often misunderstood or misrepresented.

In a Sabbatarian church I once attended, it was ‘politically incorrect’ to talk about love. That was a subject that Protestants, and other ‘touchy-feely’ types talked about. Love was too often used to dismiss God’s law and what mattered was the law. Never mind the fact that God revealed His law to us as an act of love. Like when a parent tells their young child to stay away from a busy street. It is out of love that they do so. The law of God glows with love for His children. Love flows through every line of His word. That’s something it would do well for all of us to remember. We also need to remember that love has rules. It’s not just whatever we feel.

Love, in English, means very different things depending on how it is used. Dictionaries use words like: affection, attraction, tenderness, devotion and admiration to define love.

In a more precise way, Greek uses four different words for our word love:

Agápe means unconditional love. This is the form of the word most often used in scripture.

Éros is romantic or sexual love. It is the root word for erotic.

Philia means friendship or brotherly love.

Storge means affection.

We have often heard love defined as: “an outgoing concern for others” but it is more than that. Love is the extension of our sense of self. It is the extension of our sense of “I-Me-My-Mine” to include others. What we love we consider a part of us.

God’s word tells us that:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

(I Cor.13: 4-8) NIV

These qualities define the characteristics of Love. These are the qualities that God wants us to cultivate in our lives. These are qualities we must show to love to God and other people.

Here are just a few things God’s word says about love and some commentary:

But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you (Matt. 5:44)

Love is not a noun it’s a verb. Love is not just what we feel it’s what we do. It isn’t easy to love ones enemies but as Christians we are called to a higher standard of behavior. This is a directive from Christ…a commandment for His disciples.

Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets. (Matt. 7:12)

For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? (Matt. 5:46)

This is ‘nuts and bolts’ Christianity. This is the aim of Gods Word. It’s not just for our brethren…it’s for everyone. This is how we can emulate God the Father. He loves all His children.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

What God asked of Abraham, to kill his only son Isaac, was to test Abraham’s faith in God. Well, God showed His faith in, and love for, us by sacrificing His own son. We often overlook the most obvious things in the scriptures by parsing Hebrew and Greek words and ignoring the obvious. A part of the God family stepped out of eternity into a mortal body and gave His life for us out of God’s love for us.

And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love; and he that dwells in love dwells in God, and God in him. (I John 4:16)

All real love flows from God. When we open our hearts to receive it and to allow it to flow through us we allow God to live in us. This scripture says it all.

If a man says, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar: for he that loves not his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? ( I John 4:20)

We can’t say our hearts are open to God but closed to other human beings. They are a part of us and we of them. We all draw from the well that is humanity. To love our fellow man is a part of what it is to love God.

A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. (John 13:34)

Christ loved us enough to die for us…that’s how He loved us. It was in what He did…not just what He felt.

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13)

We shouldn’t overlook the fact that others have died for us too. American soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines and police are some who have given their lives for us. Their sacrifices should never be overlooked or shortchanged. God certainly doesn’t overlook them.

By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. (John 13:35)

We often hear churches claim one proof or another that they are the true church. This is the proof that Christ pointed to. This is what Christ said identifies His disciples.

If you love me keep my commandments. (John 14:15)

Love has rules. It has boundaries. We can’t just do whatever we feel like and call it love. God tells us here what we are to do to show Him our love for Him in no uncertain terms.

These are just a few things God tells us about love. We too often overlook the most obvious things in the scriptures in our search minute or obscure truths.

The fact is that it doesn’t matter what a church teaches officially or unofficially.

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not love, it profits me nothing. (I Cor. 13: 1-3)

What matters is that we open our hearts and allow God’s love to flow through us.

If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but DOES nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? (James 2:16) NIV

What matters is what we do.

Materialism

Stuff…everybody has it, most of us want more of it. We have come to think of it as a sign of wealth in America. The fact is that we could live without most of it.

Corporate America leads us around like sheep with commercials. They love it when they see people line up overnight to buy an X-box or watch a new movie.

When someone habitually or chronically shops all the time it is an indicator that something is wrong in their life. Perhaps they have lost any concept of purpose for their life and are attempting to fill the void by buying more stuff.

This is NOT a good thing.

I have seen people so wealthy that they spend millions of dollars on their homes…and they do this while people across their own town are going to be hungry. Something is very wrong here.

This is NOT what America was supposed to be about. People from other countries used to come here because they believed in the principles that our society was built on. Now, many will tell you openly, they come here to get rich…and then go back to where they came from.

We have become a country about greed…instead of living up to the true meaning of the principles our nation was founded on.

Fewer and fewer Americans actually make anything these days. Manufacturing and production jobs are shipped over seas. Americans look down on people that work with their hands and see the ‘best’ jobs as ones where they can wear a suit to work and look into a computer screen…then go golfing in their leisure time.

We are setting ourselves up for a great fall here. China has become the factory for the world. We send jobs there because they can make things cheaper. They work for pennies on the dollar. And, make no mistake about it, it is because of corporate greed that we want things made cheaper. One of the, many, problems with that is that China is NOT our friend. Every dollar we send to the Chinese strengthens the Chinese army and one day…we will regret that.

For now our greed for material goods is simply feeding an emptiness in us. It’s an emptiness that was left when we, as a society, threw out the values that made us great and opted instead for immediate gratification.

We have lost our way. With it we’ve lost any claim to American exceptionalism. I fear America is headed for a fall unless we turn our hearts back to God. More stuff is just more stuff.

We have lost our way.

Affirmative Action

Dr. Martin Luther King, in his most famous speech, spoke of his dream wherein men would be judged, not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their hearts. Dr. King’s speech challenged us to live up to the true meaning of “All men are created equal”. That’s a reasonable expectation in a democratic society. Now, some forty years later, are we living up to that value?

President Lyndon Johnson pushed legislation that established quotas for minority hiring and enrollment in colleges and universities. The reasoning was something like: “since the population of the country is about 12 percent black…the makeup of educational institutions and businesses should be about 12 percent black”. That, in affect, meant lowering the standards that most businesses used for hiring and the standards that most colleges and universities used for enrolling new students. This was all done in the name of ‘making up for past injustices’. Perhaps it was necessary for our society to be forced into accepting blacks into mainstream institutions. Racial prejudices that had endured for decades and even centuries, had to be confronted and challenged.

Dr. King was right that we needed to live up to the true meaning of our Democratic principles. All men and women are created equal in their rights and ought to be so treated in the eyes of the law.

I believe, if I were a black American, I would be offended by the very concept of affirmative action. Why should the bar not be held as high for someone whose ancestry goes back to Africa instead of Europe or Asia? It is an insult! Were I to be hired in a job or accepted in a college or university I would never know if it was because I had earned it or because I was being judged merely “by the color of my skin”.

Surely this has done more to harm the cause of equality and justice than to promote it because it assumes that black Americans aren’t ‘good enough’ to judged on equal grounds with whites and Asians.

Even though white Americans fought a civil war in which half a million died to end slavery. And, in a huge act of affirmative action, white Americans elected a president with black skin, cries of racism still abound. There are still those who demand that the government do everything for them.

The government is supposed to change the perception that non-blacks have about blacks. This is a trap that most minorities fall in to. It is something that the government will never do…nor is it the function of government to do so. If black, and other minority, Americans want to change their image in the perception of others then they need to clean up their own communities instead of whining that the government should do everything for them.

Black Americans voted overwhelmingly for Barak Obama…because he was black! It is just as racist to vote for someone solely for the color of his skin as it is to vote against someone for the same reason. The fact is that white Americans elected a black president and it still isn’t enough for blacks!

It is time all Americans pay heed to what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stood for. It is time for us to live up to those ideals and judge each other, not by the color of our skins, but by the content of our hearts. The REAL affirmative action is affirming that it is what is in our hearts that matters.

Political Correctness

We, Americans, fought a war against colonial oppression in giving birth to our nation. We fought that war to ensure and protect our God-given freedoms. Freedom of speech and the freedom to practice our various religious faiths are the very first of those freedoms. There hasn’t been a war to take those freedoms away from us but they are, nonetheless, being taken away from us. The social movement called political correctness or ‘PC’ is destroying our right to freely practice our religious values and our right of freedom of speech just as surely as any conquering enemy.

Every Soldier, Sailor, Airmen and Marine takes the same oath as our elected officials to protect and defend our constitution against ALL enemies both foreign and domestic. What threatens to destroy our freedoms is our enemy…period. Political correctness is an enemy of freedom. It has served only to harm our society. It is psychologically dangerous and clothed in dishonesty.

To grow as individuals, and as a society, we need to be honest with ourselves and with each other. All we do otherwise is repress any real feelings until the day they blow up in our faces. Politically correct behavior is dishonest behavior. It is not diplomacy or common courtesy as some may claim. It is hypocrisy plain and simple. It is ‘politically incorrect’ to point out any shortcomings or faults in those groups who feel they need such protection. One dare not point out any unflattering fact about a minority for example. That would cast them in a bad light and they can’t have that! What’s worse is that an honest comment can label the person making it a racist, a sexist, a homophobe or any number of other slurs. What the PC types hope to accomplish with this ridiculous standard of ‘correct’ behavior is nothing less than a revision of history. To rewrite history to suit some current political trend is a tactic commonly used by totalitarian governments to shore up their own agendas. That is exactly what the PC movement is, a subtle form of totalitarianism. They want to control our thoughts!

Not everyone is equally protected under the umbrella of political correctness strangely enough. If you are a straight, white, English speaking, male you’re fair game for any derogatory slander. The same has become true for Christians. In our own American press it has become commonplace to insult Christians, they are considered fair game and no political correctness is necessary. But the same people dare not say anything against Islam…that might offend Muslims! The Hollywood elite frequently joins in insulting Christians and treating Muslims with kit gloves. Rosie O’Donnell said some time ago that radical Christians were ‘just as dangerous’ as radical Muslims! To label some of the most decent, generous people in the history of the world ‘just as bad’ as the terrorists trying to destroy us is ludicrous! How IDOITIC can a person be?

Even the Pope, it turns out, is supposed to be PC. In the news some months ago he made some comments, taken out of context, by some Muslims and many of them went up in arms. The Popes comments seemed to indicate the Muslims were associated with violence. Those who took offense obviously didn’t listen to the whole speech…or it’s intent. They simply deemed it offensive to mention Islam and violence in the same speech. So what did some of the Muslims who took offense do? They reacted violently against churches and murdered a nun in response! Surely the irony of all of this isn’t lost on anyone of reasonable intelligence?

What the Pope should have said is: “Yes, Muslim history is a history of violence and a good deal of the faithful are hateful warmongers. The bloody history of Islam is a matter of record for anyone who cares to research it.” Instead he apologizes, after a fashion, …his words chosen carefully of course. Political correctness demanded it after all!

Where was the Muslim outrage when the head of state in Iran said that Israel should be wiped out? Where was Muslim outrage when any of the THOUSANDS of innocent people were murdered in the dozens of terrorist attacks in the last few years? The answer is NO major Muslim group has expressed any outrage. That’s because most of those attacks were against white, Christians and Jews. The ‘politically correct’ apologized to their Muslim attackers for not understanding their pain. Some of them even went on to blame the victims!

The truth is, and this will be politically incorrect, the Muslims that liberals fight so hard to protect would cut the throats of those infidels given the opportunity.

Politically correct liberals tell us that racial profiling isn’t PC even though it is Arab Muslims that have declared war against us. It isn’t PC to declare that America is different than the rest of the countries on earth because we have historically fought for what is fair and right. (We even fought for Muslims in North Africa during WWII, in the former Yugoslavia, and to free Muslims in Iraq.)

Our Political Correctness has done nothing but embolden our enemies. The world is coming closer everyday to annihilating itself because good men have become afraid to take a stand!

The rule of the PC seems to be that who ever whines the loudest gets the attention. Conservatives don’t whine because they believe in personal responsibility and maturity. That leaves the most liberal among us doing most of the whining. They want a ‘Mommy’ state wherein the federal government does everything for everyone. Mature people don’t want that. It is an abdication of maturity and personal responsibility.

Political Correctness is a liberal practice because they want to feel warm and fuzzy. They don’t want to think or be confronted with the facts because they have made their minds up already, to the extent that they use their minds and not just their feelings. Most of us have to live in the real world.

The federal government can’t change the hearts and minds of people! What changes peoples perceptions is a change in behavior by the irresponsible and immature to begin acting like adults. Practicing honesty instead of political correctness will begin a real dialogue and start to make real changes in our society instead of the phony, superficial changes that make us feel good…

The Past and The Future

I love history. Our history tells us where we came from. It can tell us who we are, if we’ll take the time to learn it. Shakespeare, another one of my loves, wrote: “All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players…” I think of history as a kind of stage. It’s like a continuum of theaters. Most have been small with audiences of only a few people. Others have been grand and commanded the attention of millions. Where we are today is connected to those performances.

Some forces and movements began hundreds, and some thousands, of years ago. Some still move people today. It reminds me of the way a wave passes through water. Individual water molecules aren’t moved along like they are in a current. They remain where they are but are raised and lowered as the force of the wave passes through them. In a similar way, forces of history pass through individuals as they move through time. To understand those forces it’s useful to know when and where they began.

Some say that history repeats itself. While that may not be technically true, it certainly seems true that similar trends repeat themselves in history. Human nature has remained unchanged throughout human history and that gives us a common ground on which to understand some of the repetitive patterns in it. That’s the main reason why the works of Shakespeare and others are intelligible to us. We understand the motivations and actions of past human beings when we understand their circumstances. I am reminded of an incident wherein President Harry S. Truman was reported to have been reading Plutarchs’ ‘Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans’. When asked why he was reading it, his reply was that he wanted to know what was going on in Washington!

The idea that history repeats itself is so common some cultures employ divination methods that are based on the probability of pattern repetition. The Chinese, for example, use the I-Ching. It employs the idea is that patterns tend to repeat or replay in nature and knowing those patterns can help to predict the future based on where one is in a current pattern. While I believe occult divination methods are primarily baseless superstition, there is some logic in them or, at least, in this particular method.

It is an historical phenomenon that when times become very chaotic for people they tend to turn back to their traditional values and faith. In times of war or natural disaster they are comforted by the beliefs they were raised with. This seems to happen in cycles as well. Over years people gradually leave their traditional faiths for more and more freedoms until their societies become so chaotic that a trend usually occurs that causes more and more people to turn back to their historical faith. I believe we are on the verge of this particular pattern repeating itself.

American and European values have become such a free-for-all that it has left a great many people without any purpose or direction in life. The backlash may very well be a return to the traditional faiths of our ancestors.

At the same time the Arab-Muslim world is in a state of upheaval. They are struggling with where they fit into the modern world. In Iraq and Afghanistan especially, I believe there will be a backlash following the wars wherein people turn back to their faith. Ironically, what the war will produce is more radical Muslims and more hatred of the West than ever before.

For hundreds of years now the philosophy of Islam and the Christian influenced secular philosophy of the West have been at odds with each other. They have ‘pushed’ at each other because they are incompatible with each other. Islam is a view of life that is opposed to democratic ideals. That doesn’t mean all individuals who practice Islam, it means the philosophy of Islam itself. The West today is locked in a conflict with Islam. I don’t say ‘radical’ Islam so much as ‘orthodox’ Islam.

What is sure these days is that the world seems a much smaller place than ever before in history. The population has just hit seven billion. There are emerging powers all over the globe. The Chinese are on the ascendancy. The Muslim world is on the ascendancy. The United Europe is growing and consolidating its power.

America, on the other hand, seems on the decline. We have turned over most of our manufacturing capabilities to countries like China. (Who will prove not to be our friend.) We have lost any moral authority because we have thrown out the values that made us great. We are a culture at war with itself.

History teaches that when there is a power vacuum in the world someone will fill it. Another lesson of history is that political leaders tend to use religion to unify people and give them a common purpose. As stated earlier, in the times of greatest uncertainty and confusion people tend to turn to the faith of their forefathers. In the Middle East that means most will turn back to Islam. In Europe, Catholicism is the faith of their fathers. Other areas pf the world will follow suit. The problem is that all these faiths are at odds with each other.

These worldviews compete with the hearts and minds of people searching for meaning in their lives. There is a strong attraction to people who are certain of something. That’s one reason why cults continue to draw so many to their ranks. Cults leaders will undoubtedly begin to multiply. Political leaders will rise and give voice to frustrated populations. Power will coalesce around these leaders because they will tell their people what they want to hear.

Technology too has made the world a much smaller place. There is no longer any place left to go. It has also made the world a far more dangerous place. The weapons of war now include biological and chemical weapons alongside the immense power of modern nuclear weapons. The weapons of war have become vastly more destructive than at any time in history. The thing about weapons is that every weapon that has ever been devised, from throwing rocks to the atomic bomb, has been used in war. The greatest predictor of the future is the past.

All these trends are happening in a world running out of natural resources and workable land. It is a world with a growing population and, human nature has not changed since the beginning of history. All of these trends show we are headed for a conflict the likes of which has never been seen on earth.

We simply cannot go on the way we always have. Something has to change or mankind is doomed to self-destruct. As a Christian, I live with the hope that Christ will return and save mankind from itself. It is the only light I see in a world growing darker every day. We have to turn our hearts back to our Creator....

He is Coming...

Very soon a great being will make his appearance on earth. He will come in power and great glory. His appearing will be marked by wondrous signs. The leaders of many religions on earth will acknowledge that this is the one the world has been waiting for. He will unite peoples and nations. He will bring peace to a war torn, traumatized humanity. Peace, peace…finally. Or so it will seem…because this man will NOT be Jesus the Christ returning. The peace this man will bring will not be the inner peace of God that passes all understanding…it will be only the temporary cessation of war. This man will be a counterfeit that fulfills how the world has been deceived to see the Christ.

The problem with a counterfeit is that once you have one you don’t fill the need for the real thing. If someone owes you money and pays you with a counterfeit bill, you think you’ve been paid…until you take it to the bank. This man will be a counterfeit Christ. His coming is prophesized as clearly in the scriptures as the coming of the Real Christ. His coming will be the key sign to the people of God that the Real Christ is coming soon. This man will begin by speaking soft words. He will tell mankind what they want to hear. He will tell them that they’re all already OK. That’s a far cry from the message of the Real Christ.

This man, this Anti-Christ, will fulfill the prophecies of many faiths. He will smooth over the differences between them and bring them all into one fold. He will move against the King of the South that has united the nations and lands of Islam. The religion that has been a thorn in the side of Christendom will be utterly destroyed*. The Anti-Christ will take upon himself the power to change the laws and times of The Most High God. He will redefine what sin is. He will seat himself in the temple as Gods equal. This will be the Abomination of Desolation spoken of in the scriptures. The great false prophet, the leader of the biggest church on earth that uses the name Jesus Christ, will point to Him and tell the world that this is the Christ. That false prophet will make an idol of the man and demand the world worship it. Many miracles will follow. The world, thinking that he is the Real Christ, will obey. Taking him into their hearts and minds and doing his will, with the work of their hands will be taking his mark in their foreheads and on their right hands. This will signify their covenant with him.** All who refuse his mark, all who deny that he is the Real Christ, will be persecuted, many to death. Those that persecute them will think they are serving the will of God.

Worldly Christendom will have been expecting another Adolf Hitler or Joseph Stalin as the Anti-Christ. They won’t be expecting a peacemaker. That’s what this man will seem to be…at first. He will be wounded almost to death and be miraculously healed to the amazement of the world. This man will be an Israelite, probably a Jew. Since the Real Christ, at His first coming, remained celibate it is possible that this man will show no interest in women. This will fit the image of many people who believe celibacy is somehow more ‘spiritual’. He will rise to rule the united nations that have revived the old Roman Empire for three and a half years…the same amount of time the Real Christ preached the good news of the coming Kingdom of God. Just as Christ first came to do the will of His father, this Anti-Christ will do the will of his… He will be the embodiment of evil. He will appear to be a bright and shining savior to the world but his gospel will be a corruption of everything Holy. When he has drawn in those that will follow him, those who have taken his mark, they will suffer his fate by following him into the lake of fire. There will be a kind of symmetry between his life and that of the Real Christ. He will deceive all but the elect…and he will almost deceive them.

History shows us that even those who know the scriptures can be mistaken. When the Christ came the first time people who had made the study of the scriptures almost a profession expected a conquering king. What they got was a babe in swaddling clothes. Now the world expects that babe to return, with all the warm and fuzzy feelings they have come to associate with him. What the world will get when the Real Christ returns will be a conquering king!

When the Real Christ returns…the world will rise up to fight against Him thinking they are doing the will of God. They will be doing the will of their god…but not that of the Most High.

Two men are coming…the Beast and the false prophet. Two Witnesses are coming to proclaim the true gospel. The world will kill the latter. The Anti-Christ is coming and the world will accept him as Christ. The Real Christ is coming and the world will fight him and seek to kill those who follow Him.

He is coming…will you know Him when He does?

Don’t be deceived by signs and wonders. Only The Most High God can say what righteousness is. Who are you listening to?
_______________________________________________________________________

*There is a prophecy in Islam of a coming messiah-like figure called the Mehdi or Mahdi that will unite all Muslims. This prophecy dovetails in with the prophecies in Daniel about he King of the South. Many will believe that this Mahdi that unites Islam will be the antichrist because he will kill Christians and Jews. They will see the man who destroys this Muslim leader as Christ. They will be mistaken…

** There is still a ritual in modern Judaism wherein phylacteries are wrapped around the right hand and arm and a part of the law of God is worn in a small box on the forehead to signify that one has entered into a covenant with God.

Worldly Christendom erroneously believes that the Mark of the Beast will be a computer chip or some other physical form of identification. Such a mark would not violate the law of God. This ‘mark’ will violate Gods laws and that is the very definition of sin. All who take this mark will be cast into the lake of fire.

The Decline and Fall of America

In 1941 America was drawn into the greatest war in human history. At the onset of that war America was the greatest industrial power in the world. We could manufacture cars, appliances, and whole host of goods that improved the lives of Americans and others around the world. We took that manufacturing capability and retooled it to make planes, tanks, ships, guns and the other necessities of war. Our ability to do so saved the world from the tyranny the Nazis and Japanese would have imposed on it. Our industrial might was a sine qua non of our national defense and national security.

Today, in 20011, we have shipped most of our manufacturing ability to other countries, mainly to China. The Chinese are today where we were in 1940. Students in our public schools used to be taught shop and other practical skills for an industrial based work force. Today almost no public schools teach shop anymore.

We have done all this because we, as a nation, bought into the notion that our children should all go to college and become doctors and lawyers. We have instilled within us the idea that to work with ones hands is somehow less worthy than wearing a suit and tie and carrying a briefcase to work. We now have a nation where we don’t make anything anymore. Our public school children don’t know how because those skills don’t measure up to using a computer.

If another world war were to start we would be caught with our pants down. We could once take comfort in having two oceans to insulate us from the rest of the world. But the world is no longer so large. Modern technology has made the earth a much smaller place. Modern weapons have now put the entire human race in danger.

On top of all this, modern values, or the lack thereof, have stolen the steel that the American spirit was once made of. The generation that fought World War II went through the Great Depression and went on to save the world. When they returned home they built the greatest country in the history of the world. Today’s young people don’t have the same foundation that generation once did. The young people of our generation don’t share any common values outside of greed and immediate gratification for all their desires. Maybe it’s not their fault but the result is still the same. We simply could not do what the generation that fought World War II did. Those that disagree and say that the young people of every generation seem the same are out of touch with reality.

The problem is that human nature hasn’t changed. Technology is more far reaching and more dangerous today but human hearts still fall prey to the same weaknesses that they were always prey to. If history teaches us anything it teaches us that there will be more war. Rounds one and two of the world wars were just a preamble to the next one. And America is on the decline.

Our nation is on a self-destruct course. Greed is the only value that is common these days. All the traditional values that made us great are under attack. Right and wrong are now seen as culturally relative. We have a federal government run by men who will promise anything to their constituents to get re-elected. Corporations want more profits because their shareholders want more. We all want to pay less for the goods and services we purchase. And we all want more money for less work. We’ve thrown God out of our public places and out of our public discourse. We are in a state of economic upheaval because of our desire for more and more and our unwillingness to practice self sacrifice. We have left a spiritual vacuum in the world, one that the Chinese and others are more than happy to fill.

Our decline is leaving a power vacuum in the world too. One that Europe will be forced to fill. The balance of power in the world is shifting. The Islamic world is on the ascendancy as are the Chinese. There are no other countries that share the values that have made America the greatest nation in the history of the world. We’ve been willing to spill our blood and spend our treasure to free people all over the world from tyranny. No other nation in history has ever done what this one has.

Any student of history can see the signs of our decline. America has been a light to the world but that light has grown dim. We have made some terrible mistakes. I believe our greatest mistake is throwing out the concept of reverence. We hold nothing sacred anymore. Anyone who stands up for the traditional values that built this country is branded as a racist or homophobe or worse. We have lost our way.

Our problems may be too late to correct even if we had the heart to do so. We’re not going down with a bang but with a whimper. We just don’t have the moral certainty that our forefathers did. We don’t make anything anymore. We don’t even try to instill good character in the next generation anymore. I fear that what happens to us will be what we deserve...

China...The Dragon on the Horizon

There are many reasons to fear for the decline of our nation and culture. For example, one can argue that the moral decline in our culture bears a strong resemblance to a similar decline in the Roman Empire in the days before it's fall. For my purposes here, I'm focused on the decline of America’s work force skills and our growing dependency on a dangerous "friend".

Ask most college students these days and they'll tell you that they want jobs in the business world where they can wear a suit and tie to work; carry a briefcase and sit in front of a computer one way or another. Not many young people are interested in learning skills where it's necessary to sweat. It is those skills, manufacturing and construction related, that built America and have kept her strong and free.

What we have become is a nation of consumers…only consuming and not making anything anymore. It seems like virtually everything has a “Made in China” stamp on it these days. China, it seems, has become the manufacturer for the world. The problem is that China is NOT our friend.

China is looking to become a dominant world power and they know from the lessons of history that industrial power is economic power. And thier economic power is growing with their military power. They are using their totalitarian system to build their infrastructure and their military might. They will eventually challenge us for supremacy in space. They have begun to build, and send into orbit, killer satelites that can destroy other satelites. They will also eventually challenge us for naval superiority. They just launched their first aircraft carrier. And we are financing it all...while we are giving away our industrial power.

China has embarked on a social engineering project the likes of which the world has never seen. They have instituted a one-child limit for the 500,000 families that make up the country. Families see male children as more beneficial for economic purposes so many, many have aborted their female children or given them over to adoption agencies.To date this social policy has men outnumbering women in China by about 18 million.

That means 18 million men without any women to marry. 18 million testosterone driven men that have no outlet for their sexual, or aggressive energies. The country has only realized in the last couple of years that spells disaster for the future. Just imagine a future where no one has any brothers and sisters or cousins, aunts, and uncles. The Chinese culture was built on families. Family has historically been THE primary influence on their culture. Women and families are a civilizing force on men…one the Chinese won't have in a few years. Don’t think for a moment that those men won’t start to look around for a sexual outlet.

In addition China can’t even feed the population it now has without supplementing it’s food supplies with imported goods. The most populous nation on earth can't feed its own people. That alone sets the stage for a coming conflict.

China and India are both on the ascendancy. Both are competing for the same resources…energy and rare earth minerals to name two big ones. When China has built its infrastructure it will begin to flex it’s muscles and it’s immediate neighbors will be the first to feel the tension.

You can bet the Chinese military commanders are planning scenarios in which China and the US go to war. Their hackers have been looking for weaknesses in our national security systems, as well as, practicing industrial espionage for years now. Additionally the Second Artillery Corps, a secretive branch of the Chinese military charged with protecting and deploying Chinas ballistic missiles and nuclear warheads, has constructed thousands of miles of underground tunnels and many underground bases to hide their nuclear arsenal. Since China has not been a part of the nuclear arms treaties that the US and Russia are bound by...no one knows how many nuclear weapons they have. Analysts have speculated that they number as many as 3000. It will only get worse as they become emboldened. And we are paying for all of it...

Right now America is borrowing money from China. We owe them over a trillion dollars. At the same time we’re sending them foreign aid? Our country is at odds with itself and the Chinese know it. They have been manipulating their currency for years to undermine us. They can smell our weaknesses and are happy to take advantage of them.

Our, potentially, greatest enemy is our biggest trading partner right now. They make everything for us. We have become dependent on countries that DO NOT have our best interests in mind. We recognize the threat from the Arab-Muslim world but we don’t see what’s coming from the East. Our media, and most of our politicians, seem completely oblivious to the growing threat that China poses. While China prepares for war we sleep...

I hope we wake up before it’s too late…

Words of Warning...

For a student of history a time of upheaval, like the one we live in, has almost always meant a time of great change. It is worth noting that many of the greatest wars in history began in a time of economic uncertainty. We live in such a time. Many economists have said that the United States is going through the worst economic period since the Great Depression. The Great Depression was, of course, followed by World War II. The fact is that Europe is also on the brink of economic collapse while China and the oil producing countries of the Middle East are on the ascendancy. It is also a fact that those countries that are becoming economically more powerful are NOT our friends. The balance of power in the world is shifting in a way that is dangerous to the United States and our interests.

It was the industrial power of the United States that won World War II. We can no longer claim anything like the manufacturing capability that we once had. We have given away our birthright for cheaper blue jeans and techno toys.

There is a prophecy in Islam that a messiah-like figure will arise and unite the people and lands of Islam. He will be called the Mehdi or Mahdi. Many Arab leaders in history have believed they might be the Mahdi. The leader of Iran believes he is paving the way for this man right now. The very existence of Israel, and the peace in the Middle East, is threatened by the growing power of Iran and the rise of Islam.

The attention of the entire world is drawn to the Mid-East because it’s THE source of oil for much of the world. Europe can’t afford to lose their supply of oil from the Middle East…nor can China. The, already shaky, economies of the world depend on oil for their very existence. Modern economies are coming to depend of modern technologies too. Modern technologie that require rare earth minerals. The economies of India and China both depend on them. These too are limited and a potential source of conflict between the nations that need them.

Overpopulation, and the stress it is putting on strained food supplies, is yet another source of potential conflict. While America is attempting to clean up the air and water that our industrial revolution has polluted over the decades other countries, like India and China, are ignoring environmental concerns in the rush to become modern economic powers. Economic power is world power. America is giving it up out of a sense of guilt and a move towards socialism…a system that has never worked anywhere it has been tried.

We are living in VERY dangerous times. America used to be the hope of the world because of the values we held dear. We used to have the moral certainty that goodness and right would prevail. Now we’re taught those values are relative. America used to be the place the world’s displaced went to escape the troubles in the rest of the world. There is no longer any place to go.

Our system…the last, best hope for mankind in the view of many…has become a popularity contest for greedy, incompetent politicians. Our leaders, if they can be called that, lack the moral certainty and courage to make the tough decisions. America is in serious trouble. That means the world is in serious trouble.

As a Christian I know the only hope we have is to turn our hearts back to God. We need to repent of our love of money that has clouded everything we do. We need to repent for kicking God out of our lives. We need to repent of the wholesale murder of our unborn. We need to fall to our knees and repent of our national sins. The alternative is a coming fall the likes of which the world has never seen. There is a time of trouble coming. Too many forces in the world are headed for a collision course. We simply can’t go on this way.

Those who believe need not let their hearts be troubled…if they’ve turned their hearts back to God. The world is growing darker every day. God’s way is the only light to be seen. The human heart is where all real change begins. I wonder if we have it in us?

Burn a Koran Day

In a couple of days the leader of a small "Christian" church in Florida is planning to burn copies of the Koran to commemorate the anniversary of 9/11. It seems like every branch of the media is blowing this story up to unimaginable proportions. The American media has made an international story out of it. The whole thing has me fuming!!

Let me say first that I am AGAINST book burning in any forum. I think it is UN-American, it is UN-Christian and it's plain stupid! I also think this moron and his little band of followers has every right to do it.

What has me fuming is that the ACLU and other groups that ordinarily come out en-masse for the right of idiots to be idiots are nowhere to be found. This mans right to freedom of expression was given to him by his Creator. American blood has been spilled in all our wars to ensure that he keeps that right. One used to hear Americans say they would stand up for someones right to do such things even if they completely disagreed with the act. It's even legal to burn an American flag in this country! That irks me terribly too...but I would defend someones right to do it. This is not even mentioning the fact that one can see Muslim Arabs burning American flags in almost any newscast! It's quite obvious that cultural sensitivity and tolerance only work one way with those folks.

I've read what this 'minister' has published and I agree with him on one point. Where will American appeasement to Muslims stop? Americans gave their lives to protect and defend Muslim lives in WWII; in the former Yugoslavia and in Iraq during our first and second wars there. We seemed to have forgotten that they attacked us on 9/11. Since then we have allowed them to encroach on our culture in almost every way. In public places where opponents have vigorously denounced Christian symbols and practices Muslims are now allowed theirs. Muslims are intentionally portrayed in the media now as peaceful, good citizens. All this is done in the name of NOT offending Muslims! Now, we have people that want to allow them to build a 'victory' site next to ground zero where the World Trade Center stood. (Yes, I know, they have that right too... It is also in VERY BAD taste. It demonstrates a complete ignorance of Muslim history and practices on the part of American liberals. And it is completely contrary to what the Imam claims it is supposed to do...build bridges to other faiths and people.) Now, he warns us that if it is not built where he plans it...there will be violence in the Muslim world! Talk about plain extortion!!! (From the members of  "the religion of peace...")

It is the very heart of irony that Americans who are offended by Christian practices...in the culture that Christians built, (Yes, this country was built by Christians on Judeo-Christian principles...) would welcome Islam in getting a foothold here. If those same people were to really realize what Islam teaches...that Muslims treat women like property, they are completely intolerant of any other religious practices in their own lands, and it is their own stated goal of taking over the world for Islam, (because Saudi Arabia, Yemen and the other other completely Islamic countries are such shining examples of paradise on earth no doubt)...those same liberals would be horrified at the prospect of allowing Muslim culture to grow here!

I'm sick of the kind of appeasement that gives our enemies a greater and greater foothold. Islam is NOT a religion of peace. IF it were so...no one would have to 'tread lightly' when criticising it for fear of violence. We might like to convince ourselves that we're just being the bigger souls by allowing Muslims more and more concessions here...but you can be sure that they see it differently. Muslims see us as the 'Great Satan' and they will do anything to ensure our downfall. They see our concessions not as our greatness but as our weakness. What they will do is what Lenin taught his followers to do..."thrust the bayonet in until you strike steel."

There was a time when Americans would Never negotiate with terrorists! Now, it seems, we're just going to hand them the keys to the country by fooling ourselves that they're going to "play nice". You may mark my words...this will evolve into a war of cultures eventually. The West versus Islam is what it will become. Just look at history. Any Serbian can tell you how Muslims 'play nice' once you allow them a foothold on your soil. In every country in the world where Islam has gained a significant foothold there is violence in the Muslim community directed towards non-Muslims.

We are constantly told, mostly by the elite far left pseudo-intellectuals, that we need to be more sensitive and tolerant to Muslims. Well, this is America. Muslims living here have it better than in ANY Muslim country in the world. I think it's time they learn to be sensitive and tolerant of us and our culture! You remember...the one that has saved Muslim lives over and over throughout this century. We should NEVER give in to extortion and allow another country or culture to keep Americans from exercising their own God-given rights for fear of reprisals! Real Americans DO NOT give in to terrorist threats!

These Days 'In Amerika'

This is a strange time in the history of our country. It seems to me to be that way at any rate. We have a president that was elected with NO military experience, NO experience in owing or running a business and that had NO executive experience before he assumed office. Exactly what made him think he was qualified to become the most powerful political leader in the world is beyond me? (I suppose the real question is: What made those who voted for him think he was qualified?) We had an electorate that was tired of George Bush Jr. and tired of the war he seemed to have gotten us involved in without any connection to what happened on 9/11. Additionally, the Clinton name came with too much unsavory baggage. We were tired of "politics as usual". And, to be truthful, white Americans were tired of cries of racism and electing a black man seemed to be a way to signal that most Americans have moved beyond it. We were ready for a change.

What we got wasn't the change we had hoped for. What we got was a man who thinks he's wiser than the rest of us. We got a man who seems to think he's a king or dictator...instead of what he is...the temporary occupant of the White House...and the employee of the American people. One thing is obvious...the man is as arrogant as he is unqualified. He has set about to 'socially engineer' a new America. The problem is he doesn't know what he's doing. It's not that America is perfect. God knows we could use some changes! The thing is, our country has worked for over two hundred years now on some pretty sound principles. Barak Obama is ignoring those principles in favor of a Socialist agenda. There is no question, given his direction, that he's a Socialist. Socialistic principles have been tried over and over again in Europe and the East and they just don't work! In fact the Europeans have begun to give up their socialistic ways in favor of more capitalistic practices. Obama wants to build a European style socialist country when even Europe is headed away from that!

Obama has it in his head, no doubt from his upbringing with Communist parents; his experience as a community organizer; his 20 year association with the radical-racist Jeremiah Wright and his other 'dealings' with crooked Chicago politicians and socialist radicals, that what this country needs is to become a "nanny state". The federal government, in his naive view, should ensure that everyone has the right to equality of outcome..so the wealth of this country has to be redistributed. In short, the government should do everything for everyone!

The problem, as any student of history can tell you, is that every time the government is given more power...especially the power to redistribute wealth...the governed lose more of their freedoms. The United States government exists to give people the most amount of freedoms without stepping on the rights of other people. It was NEVER the job of the federal government to do everything for everyone! It is the federal governments job to: 1.) Form a more perfect union, 2.) establish justice, 3.) insure domestic tranquility, 4.) provide for the common defense, 5.) promote the general welfare, and 6.) secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity. Those directives are stated in the preamble to the constitution of these United States. Every soldier, sailor, airman, Marine...and politician takes an oath to protect and defend the principles in that document against all enemies both foreign and domestic. Now, almost every administration in our history has attempted to expand one or more of those directives to give the federal government more power. For example, "Promoting the general welfare" has been expanded beyond all common sense by this administration. The amendments to the constitution, the Bill of Rights, are clearly stated to LIMIT the powers of the federal government. They exist to protect the citizens of these United States from our own federal government. What many people don't realize is that every time we ask the government to do more for us...we give it more power and we lose more of our freedoms. These are the facts.

The principles in our constitution were written down and made the law of the land by Men who understood history. Our founding fathers were statesmen...unlike the sleazy politicians that have usurp-ted the leadership of this nation.

Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reed and their like don't care what the will of the American people, their employer, is. They don't care what the constitution says. All they care about is their own power...and pushing through their own political agenda.

The Republicans who they took power from were just as guilty of that! George Bush started a war his father left unfinished. Saddam Hussein was as evil as any dictator in history and he deserved to be killed. But there is simply no proof that he had anything to do with 9/11. We engaged in a war that costs the United States TRILLIONS of dollars and will leave the volatile Middle East more unstable than ever. What Saddam Hussein did was give the Muslims in the Middle East something to worry about. Now that he's gone we'll face a much bigger problem with an Iran that is going nuclear. All the US did under Bush was remove one evil dictator to make room for another that will be even worse and, in the process, almost financially break this country!

Add to this we have a president that is as naive as Chamberlain was with Hitler...he thinks he can appease the Muslim world by sweet talking them! What he has done / is doing...is making us look weak to the rest of the world and to Muslims in particular. George Bush, for all his faults, had a cowboys sense of justice... I Thank God every day that we had a cowboy in office when 9/11 happened. He kept us safe for the remainder of his term. Let's see if Obama can say that when his four years are up. And, let's hope we can still recognize this country when Obama's time is up...

I Come in Peace...

I received an email recently that spoke to me on a deeper level than I, at first, realized. It was a series of photographs taken in the Hudson Bay area of Canada. The photographer had a team of dogs out in the Arctic that was approached by a polar bear.

Anyone who has lived in the North knows that polar bears can easily kill a team of dogs. There are many stories of those who have done so. Polar bears are powerful creatures that usually only socialize when they mate or raise their young. The rest of the time they live solitary lives in one of the harshest environments on earth.

This photographer just knew his tethered dogs were about to die. As the bear approached it became apparent that he only wanted to play and share some affection. He came in peace. He didn't come to see what he could take. He only wanted some companionship...and a hug.

This story and its photos touched me. I think it's what inspired a dream later. In my dream I was on a battlefield in the middle of another war we, humans, seem so found of. We were all there because our governments had dictated to us whom we should hate and kill. In the middle of the fighting Christ returned. He didn't return as a conquering king like the scriptures say He will. He just walked onto the field and spoke in a quiet voice: "I come in peace...". Somehow every heart heard Him. Most of the men on the field dropped their weapons and rejoiced at the prospect of peace...finally. Only the leaders refused to stop fighting. They called for their men to resume the wholesale murder of their enemies. But the men, hearing a higher calling, walked away and left their leaders with no one to lead. Peace was the deepest yearning in our hearts.

We only needed someone to lead the way. After that dream, all day, I kept repeating the words, "I come in peace" in my mind. There is something in them that speaks to a heaviness in my heart.

We live in a world that grows darker every day. We're all caught up in the smoke and mirrors, in the illusion, that what happens here really matters...and it doesn't. What matters is how we how we live our lives. What matters is who our hearts choose to listen to. Do we choose to listen to God or to our own desires. Do we come in peace or do we come to see what we can get out of someone else? There are only two ways to live in the final analysis. We can live the way of Get or the way of Give. Just imagine a world where no one ever serves anyone else. A world in which everyone is only out for what they can get. If you'll follow that to it's logical conclusion you'll see that kind of world will eventually self destruct. We have it within each of us to choose what kind of world we want to make. That choice comes from whom our hearts listen to. Our choice may not change the world...but it just might. Either way it will change us. Now imagine a world in which everyone willingly serves their fellow man. It's coming...That's the gospel of Christ.

Term Limits Now!

The founding fathers of our nation had the wisdom to design a system that provides checks and balances to the powers of the federal government. The executive, legislative and judicial branches of government were instituted to keep each other in check. They were intended to be co-equal branches of government. Unfortunately, what the founding fathers never conceived of was the abuse of power the legislative branch was capable of.

The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators that would serve their constituents for a time then go home and back to work. Serving in Congress is an honor, it was never meant to be a career.

Because of the lack of term limits, like the one Congress imposed on the President, many men have turned it into a career. Some have served for decades and, in the process, become politically very powerful. That is exactly what was NOT supposed to happen!

Congress has the power to tax the citizenry, and the power to exempt itself from the laws it passes. With the abuse of those powers the U.S. Congress has become a cesspool of corruption that is destroying the ideological foundation of this nation! Most of its members want only one thing…to stay in power. Because there are no term limits, the majority of the time and effort that most congressmen and senators expend is on being re-elected.

Every one of them is a servant of the American people. Their guiding directive should be to “speak for their constituents and act for their country”. What they do instead is represent whatever special interest donates the most money for their re-election. Lobbyists are the most powerful people in Washington…they are the ones who finance the men and women who have been corrupted by power.

What we need now, what would be Real Change we can believe in, is a reformation of Congress!

One possible solution could be the establishment of a Citizens Oversight Committee. Just ordinary citizens elected only once, for say, one year at a time to oversee the actions of the House and Senate. These could have to power to veto any special favors that congressmen try to give themselves.

The guidelines could be something like these:

1.) A 12 year Term Limit imposed on all elected public servants. That allows a member of the Senate to serve two six-year terms and a member of the House to serve six two-year terms. No public servant may serve more…period! (Let them get real, productive jobs!)

2.) Congress will no longer have the power to vote themselves raises…period! They may receive the same cost of living increases that everyone else does. They may receive NO other financial perks. (My grandmother would call what they do now "Letting the fox guard the hen house"!)

3.) All contracts with past and present congressmen are to be made null and void effective immediately. The American people didn’t make such contracts with these people; congressmen made all these contracts for themselves...without citizens oversight.

4.) No Tenure / No Pension: A congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office...period!

5.) Congress can purchase their own retirement plan just like all other Americans.

6.) Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the one they vote on for the American people.

7.) Congress (past, present &; future) participates in Social Security. All funds in the Congressional retirement fund should be moved to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people.

8.) Congress may NOT touch the money in the Social Security system…period!

9.) Congress must abide by a balanced budget. A constitutional amendment requiring one should be passed now! (Let's make them play by the same rules most families have to!)

10.) If a congressman wants to run for another office, he or she must resign first…period! (Why should they recieve taxpayer saleries/subsidies while they look for another job?!)

11.) If a congressman decides to change parties from the one his/her constituents elected them in…they must resign first…period! (No more scum-bags like Arlen Spector changing horses in mid-stream in a feable bid to stay in office!)

12.) Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people…period!
(This would mean that Congress members do NOT get paid in the event of a government shut-down and there would be NO reimbursement upon it's re-opening!!!)

13.) Congress MAY NOT raise any taxes until they can demonstrate the programs and departments now receiving them are WORKING! There should be a citizens review of laws passed say...one year after being passed. If it is NOT doing what it was designed to do or has unintended consequences it becomes null and void. If it is working it can be reviewed again in five more years.

14.) For every law Congress passes they must eliminate two more laws.

15.) Congress has the authority to declare war. When they exercise that authority and declare war any family members that they have of a suitable age MUST enlist and go to the front lines!

16.) As employees of the American people, Congress may NOT engage in any frivolous pursuits like spending the peoples time apologizing for slavery or declaring a day for some sports figure. We have REAL problems they need to address! 

__________________________________________________________________________________ 

When your only tool is a hammer the whole world looks like a nail. Passing a new law is NOT the way to solve all problems. Throwing money at a problem is NOT always an answer. "Calling for" a committee to investigate some problem is NOT DOING ANYTHING.These men and women need to stop acting for their party and act for their country! Instead of paying back some political favor they need to find the best people for the job of fixing problems and not worry about what party they belong to.

The politicians of our time have turned their offices into careers and, in so doing, many have sold their influence to the highest bidders corrupting everything they were meant to stand for. Political office was NEVER meant to be a vehicle for the office holder to line their own pockets!! Congress was NEVER meant to be a ruling class!! They are employees of the American people...just like the president. They were ALL meant to be ordinary citizens who served for a time then went home.

Whatever happened to the statesmen that put their country before their own interests?

Barak Hussein Obama

I don't write much about politics. I don't think the focus of Christians should be in worldly pursuits and, as a political independent, I'm fairly disgusted with both Republicans and Democrats. Both seem intent only on being in power...and in spending other peoples money...namely ours! I've watched Barak Obama for the last year and have realized, like many other people, that the change he promised was just something to say to get elected...another load of crap!

Obama has never started, owned or ran a business. He only spent 143 days in the US Senate and, while taking a 160,000 a year income from taxpayers, he ran for president. There is no question that Americans were ready for a change. George Bush Jr. was an unpopular president who got us involved in an unpopular war. I believe Obama got elected simply because he was Not George Bush.

Obama never really said exactly what he would do as president. He ran making people believe he was a moderate. That turns out to have been all political calculation. He has proven to be a far-left Liberal with a Socialist agenda. That's become plain to the country and most voters have turned against him since. In fact the only thing this president has done in his first year is win the Nobel Peace Prize. (Having only been in office for four days at the time...that has turned the Nobel prize into an inconsequential joke...)

Obama clearly has a huge ego and believes he's smarter than everyone around him. It is obvious now he has no real clue how to run the business that is America. He believes he's the equal to the great statesmen of the past and quotes them often...without actually reading the history of this nation! He even went to Europe, like the commander in chief, before being elected! He began his political career in Chicago, a city renown for it's political corruption, and has proven to be just another corrupt Chicago politician. So much for "change we can believe in"! That 's just another cruel joke on the American people.

He has traveled abroad and apologized for American arrogance. Now, I too think Americans have been arrogant at times but, we have also been the most generous country in the history of the world. We defeated aggressors in two world wars, rebuilt the countries that were destroyed...including those of the aggressors who started the wars...and then forgave the debts! We nave NOTHING to apologize to the world for.

Obama has denied that this country was built on Judeo-Christian principles and that we are primarily a Christian nation. His own 'christian' practices were just another calculated political move for appearance sake. He has made a point of kissing Muslim asses around the world...like that's supposed to appease an enemy hell-bent on our destruction. Such naivete! This country isn't more safe for all Obamas political correctness...it is still a target for Muslim extremists...and now an easier target!

He promised transparency in government...what we got was a series of secret deals in putting together a health care deal that could potentially bankrupt our nation. (Now, I have no problem with the idea of a national health care system. I think America should have something like that. The problem is...we can't pay for the entitlements we have now! We owe the Chinese almost a Trillion dollars in loans! We Americans are going to have to tighten our belts and learn that the government simply can't do everything for us. It wasn't designed for that... Our system was designed to oversee private enterprise to keep it fair. That's why America works! Liberals like Obama want to turn a working system into a "mommy state" that's 'politically correct' and that will destroy what made this country the envy of the world. At the rate we're going we could easily end up like the former Soviet Union and dissolve because we've gone broke. That would leave the world a far more dangerous place! Imagine the world with two super powers...China and a united Europe. Who would have the courage to stop Iran from going nuclear?...Certainly not those two! Far left liberal ideas are not only bankrupting us...they are heading us towards another world war!!)

Obama promised no lobbyists in his administrative posts...he forgot to add...except for the ones He wanted. He promised no taxes on anyone making less than 200,000 a year...he neglected to mention that any taxes he passed on corporations will simply be passed on the folks as higher prices. The result will be the same...less money in our pockets...and an even more powerful federal government that is spending us broke!!

Americans have elected the most naive, incompetent president in this century...and the worst part of all is that the 'perfect storm' ushered in a Democratic majority in both houses of Congress...and all because people were tired of George Bush!

Luckily, like all American political offices, the office of president is a temporary one. We've had incompetents before and gotten rid of them...in three years we'll get rid of this one too... I just hope it won't be too late...