Love Accross the Divide

Everyone is saying our country is divided more than ever before. I do not know if that is true (Americans from 1860 might have something to say about that). But i do know that a Christians we are called to love across all division. Check out How to Love People Across the Political Divide by J. Lee Grady

Our country has always enjoyed lively political debate. But psychologists and sociologists have noticed that the 2016 election took the United States to a whole new level of polarization. The animosity is hot—and getting hotter. In fact, couples have gotten divorced and families have stopped speaking to each other because a massive chasm separates Red and Blue political platforms.

To put it bluntly, we hate each other.

Call it the Trump factor, if you will. But more than two months after the presidential election, nerves are still raw, and blood is still boiling. Longtime friends are avoiding contact or unfriending each other on Facebook. Rage is seething under the surface of our country like a volcano about to erupt.

This anger is also in the church. Believers are at odds with each other over who voted for whom and who supports what policies—and even who drinks Starbucks coffee, shops at Nordstrom's or likes Lady Gaga's Super Bowl halftime show. Everything has been politicized. This divisive spirit burns bridges, erects walls and pushes God's people into opposite camps over even the most trivial matters.

Many white evangelicals view Trump's presidential victory as a miracle of God, and for that reason, some of them rigidly defend every decision he makes. Other Christians—including many African-American, Hispanic and millennial believers—view Trump as a dangerous threat to the country. And somewhere in the middle are Christians who accept the outcome of the election and pray faithfully for Trump, even if they don't support every move he makes.

We are faced with a serious challenge. Either we choose to love each other across this vast divide, or our love becomes cold and our message becomes hollow and hypocritical. I'm praying we will rise above the conflict so we can show America who Jesus is. Only a church full of love can reflect Him. Here are some steps we can take now:

1. Read your Bible and pray more than you listen to news programs. There's nothing wrong with staying in the know when it comes to politics. But if you find yourself listening to countless hours of angry commentators every day on Fox News or CNN, it's possible you have become addicted to this verbal venom. Today's polarized media is fueling a civil war, and many Christians have become pawns in the devil's scheme to divide and conquer. Please hit the mute button when necessary. Tune out the screaming before it poisons you.

2. Submit your mouth (and your social media posts) to the Holy Spirit. I've been shocked by the belligerent tone some Christians take when defending their views. Is it really necessary to blow someone out of the water just because they disagree with you? The Bible makes it simple when it says: "Be kind one to another" (Eph. 4:32). Does this commandment apply to us, or not?

(I'll admit I haven't always tempered my words in this column, and for that I am sorry. I'm learning that grace should season my words like salt. Please forgive me if my tone sounded self-righteous, condescending or judgmental.)

3. Let Jesus adjust your attitude. In the Old Testament, Moses went on top of a mountain and received the Ten Commandments. In the New Testament, Jesus went on top of a mountain and gave His most quoted sermon—which focuses not on outward behavior but on attitudes of the heart. The Sermon on the Mount calls us to show love, mercy, gentleness and forgiveness. And in it Jesus said: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God" (Matt. 5:9).

Reconciliation is at the heart of the gospel. But today we prefer quick-witted comebacks, one-line zingers and downright ugliness to get our points across. Our hearts are full of resentment and hostility. We need the Beatitudes now more than ever.

Prayers for A Troubled America

From J. Lee Grady - 10 Ways to Pray for a Troubled America

The Old Testament clearly shows that the rise and fall of Israel was determined by its spiritual condition. When the people worshipped God, and their leaders honored His laws, Israel prospered. When the people drifted into sin and idolatry, and Israel's kings forgot the God who delivered them from slavery, the nation went into decline. Foreign armies eventually invaded.

The same principle applies to any nation—and certainly to the United States, which was founded by people of faith who embraced the Bible. We have known seasons of spiritual revival, and in the past we have elected leaders who called on Jesus Christ as the true God. We have also gone through periods of spiritual darkness. When you review our 240-year history, it seems we are facing our darkest hour spiritually.

But I am not discouraged as we head into this uncertain season. God intervenes even in the darkest times. Elijah called down fire from heaven when an evil leader sat on the throne. When Israel faced certain defeat, King Hezekiah prayed and witnessed divine deliverance.

God is always willing to rescue His people if they pray.

As we head into the final days before this crucial 2016 election, I challenge you to do more than vote. Please pray big, God-sized prayers. A president or a political party cannot solve our national crisis. We need urgent help from heaven. Here are 10 things we should include in our petitions:

1. That our leaders will turn to God. It was President Theodore Roosevelt who said: "A belief in Jesus Christ is the very fountainhead of everything that is desirable and praiseworthy in our civilization." Yet today political correctness prevents our leaders from barely mentioning faith. It's as if we are ashamed of what made our nation great. Pray that our next president and his or her cabinet will be drawn to love the Lord in a personal way.

2. That our president will rediscover God's forgotten laws. In the days of King Josiah, when the nation's moral compass went missing, the scrolls of the Old Testament were found in a closet. When the king heard the words of the Scriptures, he tore his clothes, repented and called the nation to serve God again (2 Kings 22-23). Pray that our next president will follow the footsteps of Josiah and bravely call for a reformation.

3. That God's prophets will have access to government leaders. Prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah and Elisha called on the kings of Israel to obey the Lord—and Israel was blessed when leaders heeded their message. Even when Israel went into captivity in Babylon, God put his servant Daniel in a strategic position of influence. Pray that our leaders will open their doors to those God is sending to speak for Him.

4. That we will have righteous judges. John Jay, the first chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, did not hide his Christian faith. He wrote: "The Bible is the best of all books, for it is the Word of God and teaches us the way to be happy in this world and in the next." Today, most of our judges have no knowledge of Christian morality; instead they create their own laws in a moral vacuum. Our judges are now responsible for redefining marriage, secularizing the country and taking away the rights of the unborn. Pray that God will raise up judges who honor God's laws.

Screwtape on 2016 Election

Oh, so pertinent for the 2016 election cycle!   From The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis (Imaginary letters from a senior demon - Screwtape -to a protege tempter - Wormwood)

The Measure

When a candidate becomes the measure of our values, rather than our values the measure of a candidate ...

We lose our witness.

       ~Jim Wright at  Plumbline Faith

Where Do You Place Your Hope?

Is this political year getting to you - and depressing you - like it is to me? I renewed my hope by reading this piece by Stephen McAlpine - Christ's Parousia Is Our Salvation Not Christian Politics

Hey I went into Christian bookshop, Koorong, this morning (just for academic research purposes of course), and guess what?

Hidden  on the shelves behind The Women’s Devotional Study Bible, The Men’s Devotional Study Bible, The Spirit-filled Life Application Bible, and The Prosperity Gospel Bible (is that even a thing?) was the 21st Century Western Christians’ Guide to Modern Politics Bible. 

What a find!

And the latest edition comes with “how to vote” cards in the upcoming US Presidential election, the soon to be upon us Australian Federal Election, and the Brexit campaign in the UK. Pretty nifty huh?

And as is my wont  with new editions I went to a specific text to see if they got it right. And here’s how one of my favourite test-case texts, Colossians 1:3, reads in the 21st Century Western Christians’ Politics Bible:

We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ when  we pray for you, since we have heard about your faith in the political process, and of the love that you have for those Christians on your side of the political fence, because of the hope laid up for you on election night.

Nailed it right there.  Faith. Love. Hope.  All directed in this age of course.  All focussed on the goals and plans of this age.  The 21st Century Western Christians’ Political Bible should sell like hot cakes.  Maybe not in Syria, but Sydney certainly.  Maybe not in Poland, but definitely in Perth.

Ok, I jest, but is it that far from the thought patterns of many Christians in the West (both progressives and conservatives) today?

For two things struck me after the dust stirred up around my Hanoi Jane post had settled, in which I called out progressives for their lack of gospel eschatology.

Firstly, if Facebook comments  – often merely faux intellectualism posing as academic rigour – are any indication, we’re in trouble. There’s Buckley’s chance of a civil conversation with the secular framework about our social disagreements if we can’t have a civil conversation amongst ourselves.

Modern Western Christians are struggling to do Gospel conflict well at the moment.  Pure and simple.   They have drunk deeply from the tainted Kool Aid in the political punch bowl.

But secondly, and more importantly, eschatology has fallen off the Christian radar, particularly, though not exclusively from the progressive crowd.

So much so that my state conviction that our hope is grounded not in this age, but in the age to come, was sneeringly referred to as “neo-fundy”.

Now to be fair, this lack of a robust eschatology is a politically conservative problem too. Or it was, right up until the point in which many conservatives realised that the culture war was lost.  After all, the hope of the Moral Majority in the US was to “take this country back”. Since that’s not going to happen, where should we look? (No, the answer is not Donald Trump).

Here’s my concern: Since when did it become an arcane historical curiosity for Christians to believe what we’ve believed since the resurrection? Since when was it reactionary  to believe this: Christ’s parousia will ultimately rescue us, not Christian politics?

For that’s what we believe, right?  That Christ’s parousia will ultimately rescue us, not Christian politics? Don’t we?

That’s why Colossians 3:4 states (in the ESV)

When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory

Note the use of the word “ultimately” in my statement. It’s a great caveat. A robust eschatology does not negate doing good in this world, or render it redundant, but rather, it gives it shape and meaning. Our ultimate rescue is through Parousia not Parliament.
What does a robust eschatology give to our politics? Here are three things to start with:

1.Humility.

Modern politics is so often proud, angry, and determined to have its way.  We fall into that trap all too easily.  The primary reason it is so, is that politics imagines that it alone is our salvation.

Our eschatology reminds us that we are ultimately not going to change the world to fit our own image.  In fact we are to be conformed to the image of Christ, and our ultimate conformation will occur at His return.

2. Charity.

There’s not a lot of that in politics, and precious little of it among Christians in the political process.  And that goes for all sides.

How can we, who will share eternity with each other, in which Jesus is undisputed, self-declared, unelected King, think for one moment that our side is the right side on everything, bar none?

3. A High View of Human Life

Eschatology, rightly understood, means that you will pray for and help the refugee who comes here by boat, and you will pray for and help in any way possible, the unborn child.
The progressives will hate you for the one, and the conservatives for the other.  And rightly so, for you are shaped by the politics of the age to come, not the politics of this age.

The Lord is returning to judge the world in righteousness because it’s His! He owns it.  He owns every life on the planet.  He gets to decide its worth. Every human life on the planet is created Imago Dei.  That means you don’t get to scorn or shun the boat arrivals, and you don’t get to scrape the unborn out of a womb.

It matters not a jot where you think the official journey of the asylum seeker originated – Afghanistan or Indonesia – they belong to God and are created Imago Dei.

It matters not a jot whether you think life begins at conception or life begins at birth, that life is not yours to take, it was created for and by God.

God owns all life and his judgement on the final day through Christ will silence a lot of loud-mouthed naysayers on both those issues.

Now whatever else you call this perspective – neo-fundy, non-academic, no-room-for-it-in-the-academy, let’s be clear: eschatology is central to the Christian faith.  When it falls off the radar then all sorts of utopian fancies stir within us. Utopian fancies that are proud, loveless, and view humans who do not meet their criteria as “persons” with disdain and indifference.

A Coming Civil War

I want you to think about a coming civil war. No, not the Captain America movie (which I will definitely go see). I'm referencing another civil war that will directly affect most of my readers. This will be a conflict between religious ideas about the nature of America, and the role of Christians in this nation. I think the post I'm about to link to is so important I want to urge all of you to read it. Even if you do not concur with his conclusions, please at least think (and pray) about these issues.

A Coming Evangelical Civil War? by Alan Cross

Here's one sample paragraph:

...the conflict will be about theology in a way that we have never really had agreement on and do not often raise in level of importance to the place where division is ever even considered. But, events are driving us to consider not just our orthodoxy (right teaching), but also our orthopraxy (right practice). How does our Evangelical theology cause us to love God and love people (the Great Commandment)? How does our theology cause us to see other people? How does it cause us to see ourselves? To see our churches? To see America? Will we be people of the Cross or people seeking glory? Will we see the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross as our hope and salvation that then causes us to love and sacrifice for others, even our enemies? Or, will we see the Cross as the means to and end of us being safe and secure and receiving our “best life now”?

Please go to the link and read the whole post; it is well worth the time.

Taking the Swagger Out of Christian Cultural Influence

In the 80's Christians tried the tools of political power to change our culture. Guess what- It did not work  I know; I was there. Perhaps we should learn that the Lord works more through taking up crosses than taking up political crusades.

I'm not always a John Piper fan, but he is right here. Our true influence going forward will come from being servants, sojourners and exiles, not political power brokers. Piper says:

The fact that Christians are exiles on the earth (1 Peter 2:11), does not mean that they don’t care what becomes of culture. But it does mean that they exert their influence as very happy, brokenhearted outsiders. We are exiles. “Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20). “Here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come” (Hebrews 13:14).

But we are very happy sojourners, because we have been commanded by our bloody Champion to rejoice in exile miseries. “Blessed are you when others . . . persecute you . . . on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven” (Matthew 5:11-12). We are happy because the apostle Paul showed us that “the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18). We are happy because there are merciful foretastes everywhere in this fallen world, and God is glad for us to enjoy them (1 Timothy 4:3; 6:17). And we are happy because we know that the exiles will one day inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5). Christ died for sinners so that “all things” might one day belong to his people (Romans 8:32).

But our joy is a brokenhearted joy, because Christ is worthy of so much better obedience than we Christians render. Our joy is a brokenhearted joy because so many people around the world have not heard the good news that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15). And our joy is a brokenhearted joy because human culture –- in every society –- dishonors Christ, glories in its shame, and is bent on self-destruction.

This includes America. American culture does not belong to Christians, neither in reality nor in Biblical theology. It never has. The present tailspin toward Sodom is not a fall from Christian ownership. “The whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (1 John 5:19). It has since the fall, and it will till Christ comes in open triumph. God’s rightful ownership will be manifest in due time. The Lordship of Christ over all creation is being manifest in stages, first the age of groaning, then the age of glory. “We ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies” (Romans 8:23). The exiles are groaning with the whole creation. We are waiting.

But Christian exiles are not passive. We do not smirk at the misery or the merrymaking of immoral culture. We weep. Or we should. This is my main point: being exiles does not mean being cynical. It does not mean being indifferent or uninvolved. The salt of the earth does not mock rotting meat. Where it can, it saves and seasons. And where it can’t, it weeps. And the light of the world does not withdraw, saying “good riddance” to godless darkness. It labors to illuminate. But not dominate.

Abortion Questions

The main stream media seem to delight this year in asking "gotcha questions about abortion to pro-life candidates for office.  From Trevin Wax - Here are 10 questions you never hear a pro-choice candidate asked by the media:

1. You say you support a woman’s right to make her own reproductive choices in regards to abortion and contraception. Are there any restrictions you would approve of?

2. In 2010, The Economist featured a cover story on “the war on girls” and the growth of “gendercide” in the world – abortion based solely on the sex of the baby. Does this phenomenon pose a problem for you or do you believe in the absolute right of a woman to terminate a pregnancy because the unborn fetus is female?

3. In many states, a teenager can have an abortion without her parents’ consent or knowledge but cannot get an aspirin from the school nurse without parental authorization. Do you support any restrictions or parental notification regarding abortion access for minors?

4. If you do not believe that human life begins at conception, when do you believe it begins? At what stage of development should an unborn child have human rights?

5. Currently, when genetic testing reveals an unborn child has Down Syndrome, most women choose to abort. How do you answer the charge that this phenomenon resembles the “eugenics” movement a century ago – the slow, but deliberate “weeding out” of those our society would deem “unfit” to live?

6. Do you believe an employer should be forced to violate his or her religious conscience by providing access to abortifacient drugs and contraception to employees?

7. Alveda King, niece of Martin Luther King, Jr. has said that “abortion is the white supremacist’s best friend,” pointing to the fact that Black and Latinos represent 25% of our population but account for 59% of all abortions. How do you respond to the charge that the majority of abortion clinics are found in inner-city areas with large numbers of minorities?

8. You describe abortion as a “tragic choice.” If abortion is not morally objectionable, then why is it tragic? Does this mean there is something about abortion that is different than other standard surgical procedures?

9. Do you believe abortion should be legal once the unborn fetus is viable – able to survive outside the womb?

10. If a pregnant woman and her unborn child are murdered, do you believe the criminal should face two counts of murder and serve a harsher sentence?

 Gee, I wonder why these questions are never asked? Take three guesses.

Billy Graham Statement on the 2012 Election

Hat Tip: Eric Metaxas

Thinking Christianly About Election Season

I have a set of considered and firm political convictions, and those who know me know what they are.  I prefer that one political party wins elections more than the other, because I believe their general policies are better for society. However, I hope that I will always put my allegiance to Christ ahead of my political beliefs and put my hope in Him more than my desired political outcomes. Therefore, I was challenged by these words from Brian Zahnd.

...every four years a kind of madness comes upon us in America—a political mania that is becoming increasingly acrimonious and bitter. All of this is damaging to the soul. So with this in mind I would like to share with you a Ten Point Christian Voters’ Guide. (No, not that kind…a much different kind.)

1. The political process, while necessary, has little to do with how God is saving the world.For more on this point go here: The Church as an Alternative Society 

2. The fate of the kingdom of God does not depend upon political contests.Don’t be swept away by apocalyptic political rhetoric. It is what it is. Another election cycle. Jesus is Lord no matter who wins the Big American Idol contest and gets their turn at playing Caesar.

3. Don’t be naïve, political parties are more interested in Christian votes than they are in Christianvalues.Do you doubt this? Thought Experiment: Imagine if Jesus went to Washington D.C. Imagine that he is invited to give a speech to a joint session of Congress. (He’s Jesus after all, and I’m sure the senators and congressmen would be delighted to hear a speech from the founder of the world’s largest religion—it would confer great dignity upon the institution.) Imagine that the speech Jesus gave was his most famous sermon—the Sermon on the Mount. Can you imagine that? Jesus is introduced. (Standing ovation.) He stands before Congress and begins to deliver his speech. “Blessed are the poor…the mourners…the meek.” “Love your enemies.” “Turn the other cheek.” After some perfunctory applause early on, I’m pretty sure there would be a lot of squirming senators and congressmen. The room would sink into a tense silence. And when Jesus concluded his speech with a prophecy of the inevitable fall of the house that would not act upon his words (Matthew 7:26–27), what would Congress do? Nothing. They could not act. To act on Jesus’ words would undo their system. In the end, the U.S. Congress would no more adopt the policies Jesus set out in the Sermon on the Mount than they were adopted by the Jewish Sanhedrin or the Roman Senate. The Jesus Way and the Politics of Power don’t mix.

4. The bottom line for political parties is power. The bottom line for a Christian is love. And therein lies the rub.The problem with our “change the world” rhetoric is that it is too often a thinly veiled grasp for power and a quest for dominance—things which are antithetical to the way Jesus calls his disciples to live. A politicized faith feeds on a narrative of perceived injury and lost entitlement leading us to blame, vilify and seek to in some way retaliate against those we imagine responsible for the loss in late modernity of a mythical past. It’s what Friedrich Nietzsche as a critic of Christianity identified as ressentiment and it drives much of the Christian quest for political power.

5. While in pursuit of the Ring of Power, you are not permitted to abandon the Sermon on the Mount.When the world is arranged as an axis of power enforced by violence, the pursuit of power trumps everything. But in the new world created at the cross (an axis of love expressed by forgiveness), love trumps everything. The Sermon on the Mount is our guide to this new kind of love. Among other things, this means you cannot deliberately portray your political opponents in the worst possible light. (Attack ads? Remember the Golden Rule?) Jesus also taught us that if you call someone you disagree with a “fool” you are liable to the “Gehenna of fire.” I might put it this way: When your political rage causes you to hurl epithets like “fool” and “idiot”—you are kindling the fires of hell in your own soul!

Billy Graham on Aging, Regrets, and Evangelicals

From a Christianity Today interview, here's Christian elder statesman Billy Graham on aging, his regrets, and the future for Evangelicals.

1. What advice would you give to people who are aging?
First, accept it as part of God’s plan for your life, and thank him every day for the gift of that day. We’ve come to look on old age as something to be dreaded—and it’s true that it isn’t easy…

2. What would you say to children who have aging parents?
When we’re young we usually don’t think much about growing old, or about our parents growing old either—not until something forces us to think about it. But it will happen, if they live long enough. So the first thing I’d say to those whose parents are growing older is to be prepared for it, and to accept whatever responsibilities it brings you…

3. If you could, would you go back and do anything differently?
Yes, of course. I’d spend more time at home with my family, and I’d study more and preach less. I wouldn’t have taken so many speaking engagements, including some of the things I did over the years that I probably didn’t really need to do—weddings and funerals and building dedications, things like that. Whenever I counsel someone who feels called to be an evangelist, I always urge them to guard their time and not feel like they have to do everything.

I also would have steered clear of politics…

4. What are the most important issues facing evangelicals today?
But the most important issue we face today is the same the church has faced in every century: Will we reach our world for Christ? In other words, will we give priority to Christ’s command to go into all the world and preach the gospel? Or will we turn increasingly inward, caught up in our own internal affairs or controversies, or simply becoming more and more comfortable with the status quo? Will we become inner-directed or outer-directed? The central issues of our time aren’t economic or political or social, important as these are. The central issues of our time are moral and spiritual in nature, and our calling is to declare Christ’s forgiveness and hope and transforming power to a world that does not know him or follow him. May we never forget this. read entire Q&A

Hat Tip: An Aged Billy Graham on Aging, Regrets, and Evangelicals

Vote!

It's Election Day today in the USA.  I will be voting at 7 am.

Vote! - or you lose your right to complain for the next two years.

 

If You Want Big Brother....

Some sobering words from Eric Hoffer (Hat Tip: The Anchoress) in light of the actions yesterday in Congress:

“Scratch an intellectual and you find a would-be aristocrat who loathes the sight, the sound, and the smell of common folk.”
***
“Unless a man has talents to make something of himself, freedom is an irksome burden. Of what avail is freedom to choose if the self be ineffectual? We join a mass movement to escape individual responsibility, or, in the words of the ardent young Nazi, ‘to be free from freedom.’”
***
“To the frustrated, freedom from responsibility is more attractive than freedom from restraint. They are eager to barter their independence for relief from the burdens of willing, deciding and being responsible for inevitable failure. They willingly abdicate the directing of their lives to those who want to plan, command and shoulder all responsibility.”
***
“Absolute power corrupts even when exercised for humane purposes. The benevolent despot who sees himself as a shepherd of the people still demands from others the submissiveness of sheep.”
***
“To the frustrated, freedom from responsibility is more attractive than freedom from restraint. They are eager to barter their independence for relief from the burdens of willing, deciding and being responsible for inevitable failure. They willingly abdicate the directing of their lives to those who want to plan, command and shoulder all responsibility.”
***
“The basic test of freedom is perhaps less in what we are free to do than in what we are free not to do.”
***
“The aspiration toward freedom is the most essentially human of all human manifestations.”
***
“If you want a Big Brother, you’ll get all that comes with it.”

Has Modern Conservatism Become a Cult?

Has Modern Conservatism Become a Cult?

A provocative question recently asked by influential blogger Joe Carter. Among other things, he said:

The American right has begun to mimic the left in adopting a perverse form of political syncretism. A decade ago we’d mock well-intentioned, but misguided, liberals for being so intent on advancing their cause that they’d gloss over the views of their nutcase, extremist radical allies. Now, we do the same thing without giving it a second thought. Indeed, if you point out that there may be something wrong with embracing the loony ideas of fringe cultists—directly as with Ayn Rand, or indirectly, as with W. Cleon Skousen—you’ll be accused of being, depending on how polite your accuser, everything from an elitist to a socialist dhimmi.

Despite the fact that these well-meaning conservatives fail to exhibit any discernment about the views they are imbibing, they become terribly offended when you question how they could accept such nonsense.

Christians, no matter what their political views or affiliations, should always remember that we serve another Master and another Kingdom. All idols, including political philosophies, must bow before Him!

Sobering Economic Stats

Sobering stats: this year the federal government will:

• spend $30,958 per household
• tax $17,576 per household
• borrow $13,392 per household
• Federal spending, in particular, will be increased by 22%, account for 26% of the gross domestic product (GDP)

By 2019, we'll be spending almost $800 billion just to pay net interest on our debt. And none of these estimates include the cost of health-care reform!

Hat Tip: Between Two Worlds: Spend, Tax, and Borrow

‘Public Option’ Was Created to Lead to Single Payer

Another good quote from Red Sate - ‘Public Option’ Was Created to Lead to Single Payer - BrianFaughnan’s blog - RedState

Democrats have for years been embracing the public option and explaining that it will lead to single-payer care. This has been its central appeal. And now - despite the ample evidence on the public record - they claim it would be simply one more option? Why won’t they just be honest? Lies aren’t working, anyway

What Needs to be Said

I love (and agree with) this comment by Moe Lane at RedState.Com

What every Republican candidate or politician needs to say, and keep saying, from now on:

* Stop spending money that we don’t have.
* Stop using the courts to steal wins you can’t get at the voting booth.
* Stop pretending that you can make us all rich by making some of us poorer.
* Stop ignoring foreign affairs.
* Stop acting like you’re above us all.

And, finally:

* Stop calling us ‘un-American’ and ‘traitors’ when we disagree with you.

I certainly couldn't say it better!

"You Can Keep Your Health Plan" (Until You Change Jobs)

A Fact All Americans need to know:

Under the Democrat-sponsored bill, existing insurance policies are “grandfathered” into the new, overhauled national health care system, meaning that you have the option to keep your health coverage plan and provider even if they don’t conform to the new standards set by the federal government.

However, beginning the year this bill takes effect, individuals who leave their current insurer for any reason – whether it be moving to a different state or changing to a different employer – will be forced to purchase a new government-approved private plan or to enroll in the government-run, taxpayer-funded “public option” for their health coverage, rather than being allowed to choose coverage similar to that which they had before the advent of Obamacare.

From : Health Care Bill Fact of the Day: ‘You Can Keep Your Health Plan,’ But Once You Change it, the Government is Your Only Option - Jeff_Emanuel’s blog - RedState

Healthcare Legislation to Fund Abortions

Quoted from Healthcare Legislation to Fund Abortions | Denny Burk (and I agree with the final paragraph).

The Associated Press reports that Americans may be getting more than they bargained for from healthcare legislation that is now making its way through Congress.

“Health care legislation before Congress would allow a new government-sponsored insurance plan to cover abortions, a decision that would affect millions of women and recast federal policy on the divisive issue. . .

“Advocates on both sides are preparing for a renewed battle over abortion, which could jeopardize political support for President Barack Obama’s health care initiative aimed at covering nearly 50 million uninsured and restraining medical costs. The dispute could come to a head with House and Senate floor votes on abortion this fall, a prospect that many lawmakers would like to avoid.”
-----------
For me, the bottom line is this. If a government-funded healthcare plan funds abortion, then it amounts to government-funded infanticide. No consistently pro-life person can support healthcare reform that includes coverage for abortions. Beware of those who argue otherwise.

Sarah Palin - What's Next?

So what’s up with Gov. Sarah Palin? Why did she decide to not only skip running for reelection as Alaska's governor but to also resign now? I do not know the answer, despite the speculation I am about to engage in. Her press conference announcing the decision was low on specifics, perhaps deliberately so. I expect more details to come out after she is actually a private citizen again.

And most certainly, the pundits and critics, many of whom have critiqued her mercilessly and wrongly since last September, do not know either. The political insiders, both Democrats and Republicans, do not understand her precisely because she is not one of them: she is one of us. She symbolizes and represents middle America, the “fly-over country,” the outside the beltway reality that denizens of the fantasy world of New York and DC do not comprehend and look down on.

So why did she do this? I can think of some possible reasons.

1. Perhaps she has decided to run for president in 2012, but to not cheat the taxpayers of Alaska by taking a gubernatorial salary while devoting most of her time to campaigning for higher office. Every four years, senators and governors run for president while neglecting the present duties for which they are supposedly being paid. Barack Obama started running for president full time after only serving two years of his senatorial term, and spent most of the next two years doing so all the while drawing his senatorial pay check. John McCain did the same thing. Kerry did it in 2004 and Bush did it in 2000 while he was governor of Texas. Maybe Sarah Palin so values the citizens and taxpayers of Alaska that she refuses to play that game. If so, good for her!

2. Maybe she has decided that the principles she believes in are more important than her own ego need for high office. Maybe she has decided to spend the next few years campaigning for conservative ideas and helping candidates who agree with those ideas. Maybe she thinks the country needs her ideas, even if she is not the one getting the credit. If so, how refreshing to see someone put principle ahead of their own career.

3. Maybe she just wants to fight back. Maybe she want to be able to defend her beliefs and her family without the restraints of public office. After what has been done to her and her family, I could certainly understand that desire. Her lawyer has already said that any media outlets publishing slander against her family can expect to face legal actions. David Letterman, are you listening?

4. Another possibility is a plan to follow the Reagan model. "Ronaldus Magnus" used his time between his governorship and election as president to study and develop his ideas and policy prescriptions. He wrote articles and books, did a radio commentary, building both his readiness and credibility. The elites always wrote him off as dumb and ignorant too. They were wrong then, and I think they are wrong now.

5. Maybe she is just tired of the attacks and pain her family has been through, and just wants to escape. Based on her past track record as a political fighter, and what she did say at her press conference, I do not think this is likely. However, it would certainly be understandable.

I do no know what her plans are, and neither do you. The truth may be some combination of the above options, or something else entirely. But I do know that she has been a voice for things I believe in, and has suffered greatly for standing firm for those convictions. I also know that she is a believer, and therefore my sister. I intend to pray for her to receive wisdom and guidance to do the right thing, and look forward to discovering what that right thing is. We have not seen the last of Sarah Palin.