After 40 Years And 55 Million Deaths, The Abortion Holocaust Continues

January 23, 2013 4 Comments

Yesterday Roe v. Wade turned 40. What does one say about the murder of nearly 55 million innocent lives? Nearly 40% of the babies killed have been black. Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood, would have been proud. Abortion is nothing more than an extension of the eugenics movement, embraced by progressives all over the world until faced with the horror of Hitler’s gas chambers. Eugenics is making a comeback on the left with “climate change” usually being the catalyst. Truth be told, eugenics never went away. In this country alone over 20 million black babies have been murdered while we turn the other away calling it a “choice.”

The left is completely disingenuous in their gun control demands, all based on “protecting” children. If the left wanted to protect children, they would oppose abortion. Instead they support the murder of over 1 million babies a year. The number of deaths at Sandy Hook Elementary School is little more than a days work for a Planned Parenthood “doctor.” The left is pushing a culture of death on this nation, it begins with abortion. But it doesn’t end there. Sarah Palin’s notorious attack on Obamacare’s death panels is the next wave in the progressive culture of death. We have, at least for the moment, lost the abortion fight. With 40 years of abortions killing 55 million babies, how can we pretend we’re close to victory?

The next battle is going to be over end of life healthcare and care for terminally or mentally ill children. In Japan one high ranking government official wants the elderly to just “hurry up and die.” In Britain thousands of old people are sentenced to death by NHS every year. The argument for killing off these old people is the same as the argument for killing the unborn. They’re a financial cost to society and taxpayers. They contribute nothing while costing a small fortune. The left collectively become fiscal hawks when it comes to killing off the young and the old.

This is what happens when we start living in the collective that Obama is pushing. When taxpayers foot the bill for endless welfare and healthcare, people who use too much become expendable. In fact, they have to be eliminated in order to keep the system going for those who still contribute enough and/or are capable of keeping those in power in office. The unborn won’t contribute or vote for at least 18 years. The old have already contributed but are no longer capable of it and won’t be around long enough to matter.

This is the culture of death pushed by progressive, collectivists like Obama. The country goes right along with it because we have left our historic Christian faith. We’ve lost touch with the values our ancestors just a couple generations ago were taught. We’ve replaced the Christian faith with progressive secular humanism. The end result is that our society exalts celebrity, government and faux “education” while it murders 55 million unborn children in 40 years. We pretend to be terribly sophisticated and civilized to the point that it’s galling. Meanwhile we elect politicians who are setting up the next wave of death via socialist healthcare. We’re a decade away from the government cutting off funding for old people, dying or otherwise.

We Christians cannot hope to change our culture via government or law. The only way we can change the culture is through the church. We must get ourselves into God fearing churches that focus on sound, historic theology. We must invite our friends and neighbors to join us at church on Sunday. We must pull our children out of the godless government schools, we can no longer pretend like our kids are a light in the darkness. They’re no such thing, they’re impressionable covenant children. Most importantly we must pray to our Lord that he would call our nation back to Him. No amount of human action will change things for the better, that can only happen through God.

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Why Are One In Three Children Living Without Their Father?

December 27, 2012 Leave a comment

The Washington Post had a piece the other day about the decline of fathers in the home. It’s an across the board problem, though it’s  more pronounced in lower class and black families. It isn’t just a problem here in the US, in Britain the #10 Christmas present request from children was a dad this year. We’re seeing two things at play. The decline of Christian morality on one had has made fathers irresponsible and dispensable. At the same time, secular government has encouraged the elimination of the father from the home via various laws.

Nearly 1 in 3 American children live only with their mother. For blacks, 54% of black children live without their father. That number rises to 88% for black families below the poverty line. It’s not much better for white families below the poverty line, of which 68% of the children live without their father. We can see the decline in Christian morality in these numbers. Not surprisingly most of these people don’t attend church, a huge change from two generations ago. As morality has declined the illegitimacy rate has increased to nearly 40% of births. It isn’t just a minority problem, over 25% of white babies are illegitimate. The more illegitimate children, the fewer fathers in the home.

No doubt each father is responsible to take care of his own children. He has no excuse for not caring for his children, just like mom has no excuse for having four different fathers for her four kids. There is however interplay between government law and policy and illegitimacy rates and the decline of fathers in the home. Fathers have been relegated by the state to little more than child support payments. When the father doesn’t pay or is unknown, then the government steps in and plays the role of father providing welfare checks, food stamps, telephones, housing etc. Seeing that someone else will care for their children, some men are more than happy to step aside.

There’s a reason why the majority of single parent households are poor. They know how to play the government system, they have ready access to the welfare bureaucracy and apparently have no shame in taking full advantage of it. Men are viewed as nothing more than a means to an end. Most of the men realize that and unfortunately they take full advantage of it for their own temporary gain. It’s a sick system, an unintended consequence (or perhaps intended) of the welfare state. Is it any wonder that illegitimacy rates, particularly in the black community, skyrocketed after the Great Society of LBJ?

The black family used to be the cornerstone of the black community. It just 50 years ago that the overwhelming majority of black children grew up with a mother and a father despite the fact that most blacks were poor. The problem we face as a nation isn’t ethnic and it isn’t directly related to poverty. The problem we face is a progressive destruction of the moral fiber of the nation coupled with government action that encourages the destruction. It isn’t just in the black community, it’s in the white community as well. We see similar problems among poor whites.

Fathers are relevant in a child’s life. That got lost for decades as single mothers became more popular in the media and as men became portrayed more like morons than as head of household. Some men have fed into the media depiction of them, aided by a government who will do their job for them. While we may debate whether or not government is at least partially responsible for the lack of fathers in the home, a generation of children long for a father. If kids in Britain want a father more than a bicycle or doll odds are there are just as many children here in the US who feel the same way.

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Lowering Age Of Consent Laws The Next Culture Battle

November 27, 2012 4 Comments

Conservatives have lost the homosexual marriage battle. Yes, it’s still being waged but we need to come to grips with the fact that we didn’t fight the battle properly. We viewed this as a political battle rather than a cultural battle. We won the political battle initially but in losing the cultural battle we will lose the political battle as well. The progressive left spent the last generation teaching public school students there’s nothing wrong with homosexual acts, to say nothing of the countless homosexuals positively portrayed on television. Over 20-25 years it’s had its effect, homosexual marriage will end up being the law of the land within a decade.

We Christian conservative made a fundamental error a generation ago by focusing on this issue politically rather than culturally. One of the goals the progressive left has is to separate us, particularly children, from our history. This is especially true of our Christian history. While the left was focused on children, we were focused on fighting the left on the political front. We either didn’t realize what the left was up to or we foolishly believed it wasn’t happening in “our” school, thus making it someone elses problem. The truth is, this was happening in every government school. It’s a good example of why Christians should remove their children from these godless schools.

The next battle the left is going to wage concerns age of consent laws, which they want lowered. A generation ago we laughed at the idea of homosexual marriage being legalized, if we weren’t outraged at the thought of it. You may say there’s no way age of consent laws will be lowered but you need only look to the homosexual marriage issue as the formula the left will follow. They’ll lose the political battle today, there isn’t a state in the nation that would consider lowering age of consent laws in any meaningful way. But after a generation of cultural brainwashing and further separation from our Christian past and it shouldn’t surprise anyone that age of consent laws might be lowered.

We’ve already seen the left hint at this being their next issue. In 2007 Slate ran a piece by William Saletan which argued for lowering the age of consent. The reasoning was muddled in a pseudoscientific way. At one point Saletan declared that a 20 year old having sex with a 12 year old might be “scummy” but it doesn’t necessarily make one a sexual predator. But if that 12 year old is “ready” for sexual relations then perhaps it isn’t criminal at all.

This issue is being talked about in leftist circles. The public discussion of it begins with a muddying of the waters. In our post-modern, no truth culture, it isn’t going to take much to convince people who can’t think for themselves that maybe it would be ok if a 12 year sleeps with a 20 year old if the 12 year old is mature enough. Talk about a separation from our Christian history, we aren’t even talking about an arranged marriage here we’re talking about sex out of marriage. On the left, this issue is the next “civil” right that they’re going to push. They think this sort of act is acceptable.

We on the Christian right need to be prepared this time around. We cannot sit back and assume that morals cannot change. While God’s morality doesn’t change, the whims of sinful man can change. The left controls the government schools and they largely control entertainment. We’ve seen with the homosexual marriage issue their ability to shift public opinion in only one generation. Don’t pretend that because there is overwhelming opposition to lowering age of consent laws that after a generation of public school and entertainment propaganda the country won’t be ready to change the law. We need to attack this issue now on a cultural level. Only then do we stand a chance of keeping child molestation illegal.

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Should Pastors Be Barred From Endorsing Candidates?

September 24, 2012 1 Comment

Something called the Alliance Defending Freedom is organizing a protest by 1,000 pastors on October 7th. These pastors will be giving sermons on political issues and will include endorsements of candidates. This is in direct defiance of a 1954 law which bans tax exempt non-profits from making political endorsements. Apparently the ADF is going to record these sermons and send them directly to the IRS for prosecution. The law has never been enforced, though the IRS loves to make a show out of threatening its enforcement every election year. The ADF is trying force the hand of the IRS, thinking that the law will be struck down as unconstitutional.

We here at Steven Birn Speaks are sympathetic to end that the ADF is trying to achieve. However we cannot endorse their methods. The Lord’s Day is not an appropriate time to hold a massive protest against anything, much less government. Preaching on the Lord’s Day is about worshipping God and the edification of the Saints. To hold a coordinated protest takes away from worship. We stand against Pro-life Sunday in January for this reason as well as Reformation Day at the end of October. The  Lord’s Day is simply not the place for a nationwide protest, especially so when the sermon has nothing to do with the teachings taking place in local congregations.

This position does not however mean that preachers shouldn’t preach on politics or endorse particular candidates. My position is only limited to an intentional one off sermon that’s sole intention is to create a ruckus and to annual event sermons which might as well be called holy days the way some in the church treat them. If a pastor believes it is necessary and proper to preach on a subject that is political, he has the right under scripture and the Constitution to do so. There are plenty of reasons why a pastor might want to do this, including leading the faithful to elect God fearing men to office. There are plenty of reasons why political issues might be discussed from the pulpit even without an endorsement. The Christian faith does not suspend itself at the ballot box or at the mere hint of modern politics.

This 1954 law that the IRS threatens to enforce but never does is unconstitutional on its face. It is a limitation on free speech but more so it interferes with the free exercise of religion. It is highly unlikely to pass the Court’s strict scrutiny test, which is why the IRS hasn’t enforced it in the last 58 years. The IRS doesn’t want to lose this law, they love threatening churches every other year. To be fair, the IRS takes delight in sending threatening letters to just about everyone. But they don’t want to lose this portion of the law which is why it has never been enforced. Odds are the government will ignore the 1,000 sermons sent to them despite the fact that they break the law. The IRS isn’t going to enforce any of this law. But that won’t stop them from sending threatening letters and trying to intimidate people who don’t realize that the IRS is bluffing.

Government has no business trying to shut down the free exercise of religion in any way. The Christian life extends to all aspects of our lives, including who we vote for and what positions we take on the issues of the day. The notion that pastors cannot discuss these matters or point out which politicians are advocating good or evil is contrary to the Constitution and contrary to freedom. It is unconstitutional for the government to force churches to pay for that which they find immoral, it is equally as unconstitutional for government to force churches to self censor themselves. While we don’t endorse ADF’s organized protest, we do hope that they are successful at provoking the IRS because it is highly unlikely that the Court will rule this law Constitutional.

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Anti-Christian Persecution On The Rise In The US

July 7, 2012 27 Comments

The free exercise of religion is under attack in this country. If it isn’t Obama’s war on religion, attempting to force churches to fund contraception in spite of their religious convictions opposing contraception, it’s local governments trying to prevent bible studies or religious speech on street corners. If it isn’t that then it’s government funded colleges banning religious speech or religious convictions. The secular liberal view of the world is so pervasive that they refuse to tolerate any dissent. We’re getting to the point where in a generation or two it shouldn’t surprise any of us if the liberals start actively persecuting those who desire to religiously train their children.

In Arizona Pastor Michael Salman hosts a bible study at his home. Between 15-20 people attend each week. Of course local authorities charged him with 67 code violations and had him sentenced to 60 days in jail with a fine of over $12,000. Apparently it is unacceptable to hold Bible studies in Phoenix Arizona if more than a couple people attend. The fire department broke up a 20 person Bible study being held in Salman’s backyard. Why exactly 20 people on a 4 acre property creates a fire hazard i anyone’s guess. I’ve hosted 50 people in my back yard and I only have an acre. We sang psalms, which is likely more overtly Christian than anything Salman did. How can this situation be viewed as anything other than religious persecution? If Salman had 20 family members over for a barbecue no one would care, that 20 people show up for a Bible study earns him 60 days in the slam.

In Minnesota Brian Johnson wants to hand out Bible’s at a so-called “Gay Pride” event. A Federal judge issued an injunction declaring that he may not hand out Bible’s at the event. According to US District Judge Michael Davis, who issued a 41 page opinion, Johnson does not have the Constitutional right to hand out Bible’s at homosexual events. Thankfully the 8th Circuit stayed Davis’ ruling in an emergency appeal. That doesn’t change the fact that a Federal judge believes it is not the constitutional right of an American citizen to hand out Bible’s at a homosexual, or any other event. We may debate whether or not such street evangelism is successful or does anything to advance the Kingdom of Christ. But that we must defend whether or not handing out Bible’s is protected by the Constitution says a lot about the state of our country.

In Georgia Jennifer Keeton wants to become a therapist. Miss Keeton attended Augusta State University to obtain a degree in therapy. Miss Keeton is a Christian who openly opposes homosexual activities. That landed her in trouble with the University which demanded she attend a re-education class aka a “diversity sensitivity” course. She refused and filed suit. Unfortunately she lost her suit. The precedent set is disturbing. First, government funded universities may now force propaganda classes on students who do not share views held by the university. Second, if you oppose homosexual activity you apparently aren’t welcome to become a therapist. Miss Keeton’s position is rooted in her Christian faith, a faith with a government funded university believes are unacceptable and worthy of “re-education” via forced “diversity sensitivity” training.

If we do not protect religious freedom we will turn into a nation like Germany where a court recently banned infant circumcision. This of course directly affects Germany’s 100,000 Jews most of whom believe in circumcising boys as a sign of the covenant. The court claims circumcision violates a “fundamental right of bodily integrity.” If a child wants to be Jewish according to the German Court the child can “decide his religious affiliation himself later in life.” In short, parents have no rights over their children. In fact, 4,000 years of religious tradition is thrown out the door by liberal do gooders. This is an incredibly aggressive form of liberalism that forces everyone to back the values of liberalism or risk being subject to state intrusion into our lives, our children and our property.

Germany is far ahead of us in restricting religious freedom. But is there any doubt that we’re headed in that direction? Germany already bans homeschooling and actively restricts what religious schools can teach children. We have judges in the United States who allow government schools to ban students from holding specific beliefs. We have other judges who don’t want to allow free citizens to pass Bibles out on street corners. We have other judges throwing pastors in jail for holding small Bible studies in his home. These judges don’t act without government institutions asking them to act. Religious persecution is on the rise and it all stems from the liberal desire to control individuals and overthrow traditional Christian culture.

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Bigger Outrage: Dog Killing or Baby Killing?

June 14, 2012 5 Comments

I happened to have a hearing yesterday at the Circuit Court in Lansing. I grew up in the area but it’s a court I rarely go to. When I arrived there were three television cameras and a number of photographers. It turns out they were there for the sentencing of Andrew Thompson. A few questions placed to a couple local attorneys and I discovered Thompson is a former medical school student who killed ten or so dogs. It seems he got them from the pound and eventually killed them all. Apparently this was big news in Lansing as the prosecutor spent a good deal of time talking to the press when the charges were originally filed.

Sentencing guidelines called for 0-9 months in the county jail. Thompson had already served over three months and so the judge sentenced him to time served and five years of probation. The local media ran to an animal rights attorney, based in California no less. He feigned outrage over a sentence that clearly was within the guidelines. What Thompson did was evil. But one can’t help but wonder whether these dogs were going to die at the pound anyway. It was pretty clear that Thompson couldn’t handle the stress of medical school and he snapped. He’s already lost everything, to send him away for 2-4 years like the prosecutor wanted seems to be excessive. Not to mention it serves taxpayers no good.

What struck me is the disconnect with the local media firestorm over the Thompson case and the near media blackout of events which occurred at the big leftist netroots conference over last weekend. Speakers at the conference encouraged everyone to “celebrate abortion.” Conference attendees gave a standing ovation to those having abortions. It was a sickening display celebrating murder. Yet the media is uninterested in discussing it, this is the sort of thing they hide under the rug because it makes the left look bad.

The outrage shown Thompson because he killed a few dogs in Lansing was so overdone in relation to what he did. No one likes a dog killer. But the media spent a year on this stupid case, there are dozens of articles online. They sent three television cameras and several still photographers. I’ve been in courtrooms where murderers are there for a hearing, at best you’ll have one camera. So why are there so many for a dog killer?

As a nation we’ve lost our grip on basic morality. The media in part drives this loss of morality but they also reflect it. If people weren’t outraged over Thompson killing a few pound puppies then the media likely would have lost interest. While it’s fine and acceptable to be outraged over what Thompson did, at the end of the day we’re only talking about dogs already destined for death at the pound. Why is there not more outrage over abortion? Where is the outrage when leftist activists “celebrate” the death of babies? Where is the outrage over a standing ovation for women who have had their babies murdered?

What Thompson did was evil. But there are far greater evils in our society. We have an abortion epidemic in this country, well over 1 million babies die every year. Nearly half of them are black. It is a national tragedy, it’s a national outrage. We have one party that celebrates it, cheers it on as though it is a virtue. We have another party that while it maintains a pro-life position never wants to talk about it. We have a society that would rather get worked up over a few dead dogs than a million dead babies. What we need is a return to basic Christian morality. The dog killer is evil but he’s nothing in comparison to a woman who has murdered her own baby or the butcher “doctor” who did it for her.

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Morality Under Fire From Indulgent Mothers Who Dress Boys As Girls

February 21, 2012 15 Comments

Traditional Christian morality has been under assault in the west for the better part of a century. In the US, it more or less begins with the progressive movement in the late 19th and early 20th century. In Europe each country has its own cut off date wherein traditional Christianity began to be replaced with secular humanism. It all gets accelerated after World War One. The latest assault comes in the form of so-called gender identity. The media has spent the past couple of years widely reporting stories of parents who refuse to identify what sex their child is or parents who allow their child to dress and act as the opposite sex. The media reporting of these isolated cases of bad parenting suggest a coordinated assault.

I first became aware of this issue last year when a couple declared they weren’t going to share their baby’s sex with the world. They said:

We’ve decided not to share Storm’s sex for now–a tribute to freedom and choice in place of limitation, a stand up to what the world could become in Storm’s lifetime (a more progressive place? …),

Translated, they’re using their child to make cheap, meaningless political points. Their kid is nothing but a prop to confront “society” with their nonsense. We should all feel sorry for this kid, not only does he suffer being a political prop but the pressure of being told he has to decide for himself what sex he is must be awful. These are the sort of decisions children shouldn’t have to make. In fact, none of us should have to make them because we’re either born male or female. From there we have to roll with what God decided we would be.

Another couple waited until their child was 5 before telling the world he’s a boy. Their story is telling, they wouldn’t allow their son to wear any masculine clothes or play with masculine toys. But of course pink, sparkle outfits were acceptable, as were dolls. Their son wears a girl’s blouse to school everyday. The message for this boy was clear, what you are is bad, girls are good. His “decision” to be abnormal was no decision at all. He’s a political prop and his parents are using him to attack Christian morality. That he appears unhappy with it all matters not.

The latest is a little 5 year old boy whose parents indulged his interest in dresses when he was 3. Rather than directing him to not put on girls clothes his mother bought him girls clothing and girls toys and allowed him to grow his hair like a girl. Doctors declared this child has “Gender Identity Disorder” and we’re supposed to melt at the medical diagnosis. It’s reported as a positive. In reality, it isn’t positive at all. This child has one of two problems. Either his parents are forcing this on him and he’s trying to please them by being a girl or he has a serious mental illness. Unfortunately he won’t be diagnosed as having a negative mental illness as these days it’s “normal” for people to want to be the opposite sex.

These people want to turn traditional Christian morality on its head. They want to turn boys into girls and girls into boys, thus destroying the traditional, Biblical positions on what men are and what women are. The media is all to eager to report these stories. Does it strike anyone as odd that the media is treating as news the stories of three sets of bad indulgent parents? The world is full of bad, indulgent parents, why these three? Because they have an agenda which they’re pushing.

This sort of behavior is not acceptable and we should not tolerate it.  It simply isn’t acceptable to have 5 year old boys deciding that they’re girls. We shouldn’t be rejoicing when some nut mother decides to let their son “decide” what sex he is by letting him wear pink sparkles but not male focused clothing. These parents, themselves mentally ill if they aren’t outright evil, are foisting mental illness upon their children. We shouldn’t be rejoicing, we should be outraged.

This is fast becoming a major problem because these stories aren’t isolated cases. The far left is pushing the homosexual agenda in schools very hard. Most of these parents are lesbians. What they’re doing is forcing schools to confront sex identity, in short they’re forcing kindergarteners and first graders to deal with this nonsense. The schools are all to willing to accommodate and turn it all into a propaganda session because the schools have always pushed a left-wing, progressive agenda. Don’t be shocked when your little kids come home talking about the little boy with lesbian mothers who dresses like a girl. It’s coming.

Traditional Christians must not accept this attempt to destroy morality. We must stand to what scripture teaches on the subject, men are men, women are women and we are to dress in the manner that God made us. Any man who says he’s really a woman is first a liar. If we don’t acknowledge this fact first, all is lost. Any adult making such claims should be taught the truth and lovingly encouraged to repent and put this sin behind him. Any child stuck with parents who are using them as political props should be pitied.

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Progressives Propose Severe Sugar Regulations

February 2, 2012 5 Comments

A group of progressive scientists want the government to regulate sugar like it regulates alcohol and tobacco. They propose banning sugar sales to those under 18 as well as massive taxes on sugar and products with sugar in them. All of this to save us from some imagined epidemic that will kill us all. Their arguments are eerily similar to the prohibition arguments made in the early 20th century.  The only difference, besides the “evil” product, is that this time progressive scientists are pushing for government regulations rather than progressive Christians.

The world cannot be saved via collective action. Prohibition didn’t stop people from drinking alcohol and it didn’t stop the social problems associated with drinking alcohol. Likewise a prohibition on sugar will not stop people from eating sugar and it won’t stop any of the supposed social problems associated with sugar. The problem with progressives is that they’re absolutely convinced that government action can and will save people from themselves.

The history of the prohibition movement is rooted in progressive Christian theology. It has almost nothing to do with traditional Protestant Christian theology, which has never opposed alcohol consumption. (largely because the Bible doesn’t) Progressives however don’t believe in a strict individual salvation, they believe in a collective salvation. If alcohol is causing problems, the collective salvation of the country is threatened and therefore the government must do something in order to protect us. Ultimately they believe that sin can be eradicated from society by government action.

Such is absurd of course when one looks at the sin of mankind through the lens of scripture rather than progressive ideology. What’s interesting is that our nation has moved so far to the left that the progressive Christian ideology of the early 20th century is now called conservative. The Duggar Family, for example, is considered a conservative Christian family. In reality, much of their theology is rooted in early 20th century progressivism. The difference between people like the Duggar’s and modern progressives is that at some point in the mid-20th century people like the Duggar’s had enough of the move away from the Christian faith within the progressive movement. Nevertheless, the Duggar’s are opposed to alcohol sales and believe in a host of regulations that will protect the collective salvation of family and society. Most of which of course has nothing to do with scripture.

Fast forward to today and the Duggar type progressive Christians have done one of two things. They’ve either stopped progressing in the 20th century or they’ve become secular. The secular progressives have staked society’s future progress on science, which is these days the god of the progressive movement. Rather than fighting for an alcohol ban, they’re fighting for strict regulation of sugar.

It’s all to create a better society, so they say. But in doing so, they take away individual freedom for no legitimate reason. People won’t stop using sugar, they’ll simply move to other forms of sweets. Corn sugar, molasses and other products will suddenly replace old fashion white sugar. Even if all sugar was regulated, the fact is that people aren’t going to suddenly get healthy and lose weight. What the progressives don’t understand is that people make choices in life and like it or not most people choose to be unhealthy.

Sugar isn’t the cause of people’s lack of good health, our choices are. If sugar becomes to expensive, then folks will be unhealthy eating potato chips or bacon or name your unhealthy food. No doubt the sugar banning scientists will go from one healthy item to the next, demanding more and more government regulation to the point that the government will decide what we eat for each meal.

Even at that point, the progressive collective salvation will not be reached. Why? Because the black market will thrive with sugary treats, potato chips and all manner of unhealthy food. Just like it did with alcoholic beverages in the 20′s, just like it does today with untaxed cigarettes and drugs. Salvation isn’t realized through government action. We cannot save society from itself by banning alcohol, sugar and tobacco. Salvation is Christ’s and Christ’s alone. We either look to him or there will be no salvation. Secular progressives may reject this but it’s amazing to watch progressive Christian’s (now called conservative) also reject it.

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Obama Seeks State Control Over Church Hiring Practices

October 5, 2011 Leave a comment

The Obama administration is assaulting church and religious freedom by asking the Supreme Court to rule that the government can regulate the employment practices of religious institutions. In other words, Obama wants to apply Federal employment discrimination laws to the church. Throughout American history the government has stayed away from regulating religious activities based on the first amendment’s free exercise clause. As a result religious institutions aren’t taxed and aren’t regulated by the state. Obama seeks to undo this and force Federal employment law upon the church and other religious institutions.

It’s been said throughout American history that the power to tax is the power to destroy. As such the church has never been taxed by the government, largely because it subjects the church to state control. It can be said today that the power to regulate is the power to destroy. Which is perhaps why the Obama administration wants to regulate church activities by applying employment discrimination laws to the church and other religious institutions. If the government is give the ability by the Supreme Court to regulate the employment acts of the church then it’s a matter of time before the government can regulate every aspect of church activity.

Make no mistake regulating the employment activities of the church is an attempt to control the church. The government claims that it attempting to prevent discrimination in religious schools and other religious institutions. But in doing so they’re seeking to control the church. If a religious school is not free to discriminate against, for example, other religions, then they are being controlled by the state to the point that their religious teaching becomes meaningless.

To illustrate this, say we have a Christian school that seeks to teach children in the Christian tradition. If the school is part of a church, it is currently protected from Federal discrimination laws. If Obama gets his way, those laws would apply. As a result, the church would be prevented from discriminating against applicants who are Jewish, Muslim or Atheist because Federal law prevents discrimination based on religious faith. The school, and thus the church, would be prevented from making sure its students are only being taught by fellow believers. We could extend this to any religion. Can you imagine telling an Orthodox Jewish school that they had to hire Muslims or a Muslim school that they had to hire Jews and Christians? The government in all these cases would be preventing the free exercise of religion under the Constitution.

It is likely that the goal isn’t limited to scenarios such as a Christian school being forced to hire and/or not discriminate against Muslims or Atheists. While not yet a Federally protected class, you can bet the left is eying making homosexuals a protected class under Federal employment law. If the Obama administration is successful at regulating the church via employment law then it can force the church to not discriminate (ie: hire) homosexuals despite religious opposition to their orientation. You can bet that if this isn’t the long term goal of Obama himself it is the long term goal of many of the leftists in his administration.

All religious institutions must be free from government control. Any control over the hiring practices of the church or other religious institutions amounts to an infringement on the free exercise of religion. The left loves to throw around ‘separation of church and state’ as though religious people aren’t free to speak about their faith in the public square. These same people are oddly silent when the state seeks to control the church via law and regulation. The church itself ought not have any power over or within the state. (religious people are another matter) Likewise, the state should have no power in the church. It surely should not have the power to tell the church who it may not refuse to hire.

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What Is The Church To Do With Homosexuals?

July 9, 2011 3 Comments

It appears that the Presbyterian Church USA will be allowing openly homosexual pastors. This after several other mainline protestant denominations have ordained homosexuals over the last decade. Meanwhile a church in New Jersey is offering a summer camp for homosexual teenagers. What we are witnessing in the church today is a move away from scripture, which clearly condemns homosexual acts and lust as sin. These churches are moving in the direction of cultural marxism, which seeks to separate us from our traditional Christian heritage. There can be nothing more separating for us than to glorify and accept sin.

Leviticus calls homosexual acts an abomination. In Romans Paul writes:

Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. Romans 1:21-27

It is clear that homosexual acts and lust are forbidden by scripture. These denominations, professing to be ever so wise and tolerate, are nothing but fools. We must call on them to repent and turn from this wickedness. Likewise, we should also call on homosexuals to repent and turn from their wickedness.

What are we to do with the so-called gay Christian? There is no magic cure all for those who find themselves mired in the sin of homosexuality, just like there is no magic cure all for the drunk or heterosexual fornicator who burns in his lust. We in the church must be willing to accept the sincere repentance of homosexual sinners and like any other believer we must hold them to account when they sin. Like we wouldn’t tolerate fornication among single heterosexuals, we must not tolerate homosexual sexual relations. But we must be willing to forgive and we must we willing to help them overcome their sin, just like we would for any other sinner, ourselves included.

We in the church have spent to much time demonizing homosexuals, to the point where at many churches even repentant homosexuals are unwelcome.  This is a grave mistake. I understand that the radical homosexual movement is perhaps the biggest threat to the Christian church today. We should no doubt fight back against the absurdity of homosexual marriage and the normalization of homosexual acts. But at the same time, we have to be careful not to  demonize these sinners to the point that they never consider seeking repentance.

There is no hope in the homosexual death style. There is however hope in Jesus Christ and we ought not deny that hope to homosexuals who seek repentance. The church is open to all kinds of sinners who seek mercy and forgiveness through the blood of Christ. Surely homosexuals must be offered the same mercy and forgiveness. We must never tolerate their sin, in fact we shouldn’t tolerate any sin. But we must open the church up to homosexuals and work with them on their sin. Accepting their sin as normal isn’t going to do them or the church any good. But showing them love, kindness and mercy will do both the sinner and the church good. Christ calls on us to do just this.

 

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