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Posts Tagged ‘America’

Miss Bush Yet?

02 Sep

George W. Bush: Miss Me Yet?

For almost 10 years, the DNC and their cronies in the leftist mainstream media have been villainizing George W. Bush.s

No doubt this has influenced people’s political perceptions – I once had someone tell me they blamed Bush for trouble they had finding a parking space. This also likely helped give Obama the presidency as he and others cast his opponent, John McCain as a 3rd term of Bush.

That Obama and the democrat’s politics of personal destruction have a strong influence on how the citizens of America and the wold perceive American politics. It’s nothing new – every strong opponent of the Democrats since Ronald Regan has been attacked as stupid and incompetent. Think about it – what comes to mind as the attacks on Bush, Gingrich, Quayle, Palin?

Obama and the DNC recognize the effectiveness. Two years into his presidency, Obama continues to blame every problem on his Republican predecessor. However, the excuse seems to be getting worn out.

Ohio went for Obama in 2008. A survey by liberal polling agency PPP was just released shows that now, as Obama is less of a mystery and we all know more about him, 52% of Ohioans wish that Bush was still in office, verses 40% who prefer Obama.

While Bush can’t run again for presidency, the poll is relevant because Obama’s incessant finger-pointing at Bush in his ongoing blame game that he plays with the rest of his party that leads both houses and the majority of media outlets.

The personal attacks, name-calling, and finger-pointing works for the Democrats. If they weren’t doing this, the numbers would be dramatically more in favor of Republicans. As it is, Republicans have a 10 point lead on a generic ballot per Gallup, another polling agency that leans left.

Is this an indication that the finger-pointing and personal attacks have stopped working? That’s now how the democrats will see things. They’ll believe that they aren’t blaming and attacking people enough. Expect the name-calling and “politics of personal destruction,” as the Clintons used to say, to escalate as we approach November and future elections.

 
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Posted in Politics

 

The Democrat’s Phony Diversity, Part 2

01 Sep
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I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

Glenn Beck continues to be mocked by Democrats and their cronies in the media for the rally at the Lincoln Memorial where somewhere between 5 people and half-a-million people attended. He’s mocked because he made statements about reclaiming the civil rights movement. It’s as obvious as Obama’s Christian faith that Beck can’t say anything about civil rights, because he’s white.

This criticism flies in the face of Martin Luther King Jr’s I Have a Dream speech, given exactly 47 years before the rally. The Democrats continue to judge people based on the color of their skin, regardless of the content of their character.

In The Democrat’s Phony Diversity, Part 1, I wrote that:

The Democratic Party has been in the business of labeling and profiling people on the basis of a variety of demographics. They divide people by category and they have told everyone in every category that they must belong in the Democrat party or they are a Judas to their own kind….

You are welcome as long as you behave. Do what you are told to do. Believe what you are told to believe. Democrat politics trumps all religious belief. The party this takes over the place of your God. You lose the right to practice your own religion or to hold your own worldview.

There cannot be any real diversity because the worldview of the DNC conflicts with every religious system and traditional value system. The DNC must take priority over your faith, your worldview and your traditions. The only diversity allowed in the DNC is a facade without substance. It is as genuine as a fake city backdrop on a movie set. The appearance exists without substance.

News reports and blogs often fall prey to various logical fallacies, one of which is mere assertion: Just because I say this is true, that doesn’t make it fact. In this and subsequent posts in this series, I want to lay out a few examples of how this has been the case.

With the rally on the anniversary of MLK’s I Have a Dream speech, let’s start with the claim I’ve heard repeatedly that the Democrats voted in favor of the Civil Rights Act. Here’s a brief video that explains what actually happened:

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(In case you don’t have video, the Republicans voted 80% in favor of the bill, the Democrats about 60%)

 
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Posted in Politics

 

President Obama: Muslim or Apostate

24 Aug

I previously wrote about the White House’s explanation of Obama’s Christian faith: he prays, so he’s obviously a Christian. Most articles and tv reporters talking about this subject keep repeating that Obama is a Christian, to tell the rising number of Americans (as high as 25% in recent polls) who think Obama is a Muslim that they’re idiots.

Who decides who is a Christian? Who decides who is a Muslim? Both systems of belief have a recognized authority: for Christians the New Testament, for Muslims the Koran and the hadiths, other teachings supplemental to the Koran.

Christianity

Only 1 way:

Closed Bible The Bible says that no one is born a Christian. There’s interaction between a person and the supernatural, and the person enters into a relationship with the one triune deity, recognizes Jesus as the master (Lord) of their life. Romans 10:9-10 is the closest the New Testament has to a step-by-step process of salvation:

That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

There is no magic phrase to recite, but these verses speak of a verbal confession of what a person inwardly believes. Even the spoken element is only a confession of inward reality. If the inward reality isn’t there, the speaking isn’t a confession, but a lie.

Being a Christian is about an inward spiritual change that affects every aspect of your being. The Bible teaches that only God knows a person’s heart, it therefore follows that only God knows the spiritual state of everyone around the world. It is not possible for someone else to know whether you are truly a Christian through any sort of litmus test. There is evidence, however – outward transformation in a person’s lifestyle and actions that happens when your are inwardly changed. Does a person’s world view, beliefs, and positions on issues line up with Jesus’ teachings? While no one is perfect, a Christian should be conforming more to the person of Jesus as time goes by.

Islam

Closed Koran/QuranIn contrast, one can be a Muslim by conversion or by birth.

Option 1: Conversion

One may convert to Islam by saying the following phrase (the Shahadah) in Arabic: “There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.” This is not a direct quote from the Koran, but is based on Koranic and extra-Koranic writings and has been the longstanding tradition in Islam.  A whole-hearted attitude or inner change is not required, though that’s desirable.

Option 2: Birth

Any children born to a Muslim are considered Muslim from birth. While Muslim men are free to marry non-Muslim women, Muslim women are forbidden to marry non-Muslim men. Thus, regardless of the mother’s religion, a Muslim household always has a Muslim man at it’s head, and the children are Muslim. If your father was a Muslim, you are a Muslim, according to Islam.

A Muslim child is not accountable before Allah for his/her actions until puberty. At that point they can continue to live as a Muslim or they can choose otherwise, and are considered an apostate, deserving execution.

Execution!? This is not some archaic story in the Koran that was situational. It is a very clear teaching. While it isn’t practiced by every Muslim, it happens around the world and Malaysia and Iran have recently been considering legislation to legally enforce this Koranic teaching.  The video below is about a teenage girl from a Muslim family in Ohio who fled for her life after her father threatened to kill his daughter.

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Quirk: Lying in Islam

While the Koran forbids lying, there are lies that aren’t considered lies. One general rule of thumb I’ve heard many times is that it’s not considered lying to lie for the advance of Islam or for the heart of a woman (which as we know from above is a quick way to beget baby Muslims). Additionally, “Muslims can lie while under oath and can even falsely deny faith in Allah, as long as they maintain the profession of faith in their hearts. ” You can read this long article on the Muslim practie of Al Takeyya, the practice of lying for one’s self or for other Muslims. The article states that even befriending people of other beliefs and displaying adherence with their unbelief as a means of self-protection is ok, and for self-preservation or the preservation of other Muslims, a Muslim can:

  • Drink wine, abandon prayers, and skip fasting during Ramadan.
  • Renounce belief in Allah.
  • Kneel in homage to a deity other than Allah.
  • Utter insincere oaths.

So from a Muslim perspective, it’s possible to denounce Islam and remain a Muslim, though it seems relegated to being in a position where it would be detrimental to one’s self or to the cause of Islam to be openly Muslim.

President Barack Hussein Obama: Christian or Muslim?

Obama's Ramadan broadcast

Photo from the LA Times

As the previous post referenced, there has been a doubling of the percentage of Americans who believe Obama is a Muslim. The White House and the traditional press (newspapers, network, and cable news) have all risen to his defense to tell everyone about Obama’s faith. According to the White House, he’s a Christian. But according to the White House, the continuing recession is “Recovery Summer.”

But it doesn’t matter what the White House or your favorite media personality states. It matters what the authorities within Christianity and Islam state.

He can’t be both. If President Obama truly believes that Jesus Christ is Lord (God and master of all areas of his life) – the condition of being a Christian – then he cannot believe the Shahadah – the condition of being a Muslim. They are mutually exclusive.

As the New York Times accurately reported back in 2008, President Obama was born a Muslim under Muslim law as understood uniformly around the world. When he reached puberty, he became accountable for his actions as a Muslim. To apply the information gathered above, there are only 2 possible outcomes in Islam:

  1. Barack Obama is an apostate, worse than an infidel, and should be executed as an apostate by the followers of Islam.
  2. Barack Obama is a Muslim in good standing and engaged in Al Takeyya, pretending to be a Christian for the advance of Islam. This would only be possible if one could conceive of a reason that pretending to not be Muslim could be advantageous to the advance of Islam or his personal benefit as the President of the United States. Perhaps if you take a moment here to think: from the perspective of Islam, what could possibly be the benefit of having a Muslim in charge of the most powerful nation on earth, even if he had to pretend to be a Christian? If you can’t think of any possible answer, I’d like to thank you for visiting from MSNBC!

From a Christian perspective, the best that can be said about Obama is that he is likely a true Christian. Or you could argue likely not, as his positions on issues of importance don’t line up with Jesus’ teachings, and his views ought to be affected by his faith.

From a Muslim perspective, Obama is a Muslim or he needs to be executed.

Is Obama a Muslim? It depends on your perspective.

 
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Posted in Politics

 

White House Soteriology: Praying daily makes one a Christian

19 Aug
“]

"The president is obviously a Christian. He prays everyday."

In an attempt to redirect attention from recent polls about up to 25% of Americans believing President Obama is a Muslim and less than 40% believing he’s a Christian, the White House declared:

“The president is obviously a Christian. He prays everyday.”

If the statement was just “The president is obviously a Christian,” that would have been the error of mere assertion: Merely because you assert something is true, that doesn’t make it so. Luckily, they offered a proof: “He prays everyday.”

There’s a few problems of course:

  • Not everyone who prays everyday is a Christian. Muslims pray every day, for example.
  • One isn’t a Christian on the basis of how much one prays.

While prayer is part of being a Christian, you’re not a Christian because you pray. By “Christian” I mean someone who is following the biblical model of following Jesus.

Becoming a follower of Jesus has to do with living out one’s belief that Jesus is master (Lord) of your life. It is evidenced by what grows out of your life, what actions you exhibit. It has nothing to do with being perfect except that a Christian will, over time, change on issues as (s)he lives more as Jesus as their master.

While Obama’s family is Muslim, and while he has Muslim names, anyone who believed he was a Muslim for those reasons already thought so during the election, and that doesn’t explain the dramatic increase in those numbers. That has to do with Obama’s actions:

This isn’t necessarily new to Obama – there have been questions about previous presidents faiths. Whether or not Obama is a Muslim isn’t the point of my writing. The point here is the flaw in reasoning and the glaring misconception of faith.

Praying daily does not make it obvious that someone is a Christian. Saying so makes it obvious that you have no idea what you’re talking about.

Clearly White House overall has no idea of what it means to be a Christian. No wonder they misunderstand Christians so much!

How do you feel about the White House defining Christianity this way?

Another issue here is that the media are declaring the state of a person’s soul – the article linked to above states:

The number of Americans who believe — wrongly — that President Obama is a Muslim has increased significantly since his inauguration and now accounts for nearly 20 percent of the nation’s population.

Can you imagine an article beginning: “The number of Americans who believe –wrongly — that the Tea Party movement contains extremists…”?

Why is it necessary for reporters to be inserting this commentary? Even the punctuation around “wrongly” makes it the word that stands out most. This isn’t reporting. This is commentary.

“The president is obviously a Christian. He prays everyday.”

 
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Posted in How to Fail at Arguing, Politics, Spirituality

 

The Democrat’s Phony Diversity, Part 1

17 Aug

DNC DonkeyThis is in response to the article “The Jesus Litmus Test” by Peter Beinart. Peter Beinart is a senior political writer for a website, author of a recently published book, contributor to Time magazine, and an associate professor of journalism and political science. I’m sure he is more well-read, a better writer and must have more time on his hands to write up articles about politics… as it’s his job.

The DNC has the same old rallying cry: Diversity!

Yet the democrats were pro-choice for slavery until the Republican Party was established to fight the Democrats and overthrow slavery when they got Lincoln into office. They were the party of Senator Byrd, recruiter for the Ku Klux Klan. Yet the DNC claims to be the party of diversity.

The party of Reid, Pelosi and Obama has relied on gender, racial and religious profiling, such as giving special aid on the basis of skin color instead of need and support from and for organizations like the National Organization of Women and the NAACP.

The right judges people on the basis of their character, the left judges people on the basis of their race, gender, religion, etc.

That’s why Harry Reid could say last week, “I don’t know how anyone of Hispanic heritage could be a Republican, OK. Do I need to say more?” Reid was saying that they shouldn’t be treated differently because of their heritage, but then he treats them differently because of their heritage. This doublethink (believing two contradictory ideas at the same time) is what makes up the left’s view of diversity.

Most on the Left assume everyone thinks and acts the way they do. It’s more difficult to think in this closed-minded way on the Right, because the media, public schools, and state universities tend to veer strongly Left, so the Leftist worldview is unavoidable. Thus, when a conservative criticizes someone on the basis of character, it is incomprehensible to most on the Left. The Leftist assumes that the  Conservative must judge the same way she does, on the basis of race, gender, religion, etc. The Conservative is called racist if the person is of an ethnic minority, sexist if the person is female, homophobic if the person practices homosexuality, and bigoted if nothing else sticks.

That’s why anyone who didn’t vote for Obama is a racist. Anyone who doesn’t want a redefinition of the millennials-old term “marriage” is homophobic. The ethics investigations of two Democrats is racist.

The Democratic Party has been in the business of labeling and profiling people on the basis of a variety of demographics. They divide people by category and they have told everyone in every category that they must belong in the Democrat party or they are a Judas to their own kind.

We are all welcome, of course, as long as we do not bring our own distinctives with us. You’re welcome as a minority American, as long as you don’t bring your cultural family values with you. What they want is your skin color, not your heritage. You’re welcome as a Catholic as long as you reject the Catholic worldview. They want your label – leave your beliefs at the door.

You are welcome as long as you behave. Do what you are told to do. Believe what you are told to believe. Democrat politics trumps all religious belief. The party this takes over the place of your God. You lose the right to practice your own religion or to hold your own worldview.

There cannot be any real diversity because the worldview of the DNC conflicts with every religious system and traditional value system. The DNC must take priority over your faith, your worldview and your traditions. The only diversity allowed in the DNC is a facade without substance. It is as genuine as a fake city backdrop on a movie set. The appearance exists without substance.

Fake City Backdrop on Movielot

 
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Posted in Politics, Spirituality

 

Jello is Racist Part 2: And so are you! (The Shirley Sherrod story)

26 Jul

Yesterday’s post, Jello is Racist, was a response to the name-calling frenzy of the NAACP, the White House, and Howard Dean. Here’s what happened. Later this week with what this means for US culture and politics.

Photo of racist jello

Part 1: NAACP overreacts without basis: calls tea party racist

  • July 14: The NAACP officially condemns “racist elements” within the Tea Party Movement and the “Tea Party’s continued tolerance for bigotry and bigoted statements.”
    Keep in mind that there has never been any documented bigotry or bigoted statements within the Tea Party movement. This was simply the NAACP, without evidence, calling a large segment of the US population racists. Meanwhile, the Tea Party members have never tolerated racism or bigotry, and routinely repudiate it.
  • July 14: Various groups of Tea Party members responded.  The “St. Louis group fired off to the NAACP the statement demanding the organization withdraw its “bigoted, false and inflammatory” resolution.”

Part 2: NAACP video released

  • July 19: Andrew Breitbart, conservative Internet journalist released a video he had on file of a woman being cheered on as she told a story of withholding help from a white man who asked for it, sending him instead to one of his own kind – a white person to help him. NAACP audience members cheer her on for what she did, but she goes on to say she later learned it’s not about race, it’s about class warfare. Here’s the video – you can skip to about the 1 minute mark:
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    She’s not the problem here. She went on to learn and change – now she’s a Marxist not a racist. I still don’t agree with her, but she’s not the one cheering for racism. It’s the NAACP members that are. While there’s no documented evidence that people associated with the Tea Party movement are racist, this is evidence that the NAACP’s charges are true of themselves!

Part 3: NAACP, White House overreact without basis: Fire & Condemn Sherrod

  • July 19: The White House decided that instead of reacting to the true story – the racism within the NAACP, they’d make Sherrod the fall guy, and their demanded her resignation.
  • July 19: The NAACP harshly condemned Sherrod. Here’s an exerpt

Her actions were shameful. While she went on to explain in the story that she ultimately realized her mistake, as well as the common predicament of working people of all races, she gave no indication she had attempted to right the wrong she had done to this man.

Unlike the tea party, there was actually documented racist reactions from people in their organization. Did they condemn themselves and their continued tolerance of this? No. They said, “The reaction from many in the audience is disturbing. We will be looking into the behavior of NAACP representatives at this local event and take any appropriate action.” Their own actions pale in comparison to what they demanded the tea party do.

  • July 19: After the White House had fired Sherrod and the NAACP condemned her, Fox News Channel first reported on the story.

Part 4: NAACP, White House reverse course, overreact without basis: Blame Fox – They’re Racist too!

  • July 20: Glenn Beck first reports on the story on Fox News, and takes Sherrod’s side.
  • July 20: In a full reversal, the NAACP changed their minds. They say they were “snookered by Fox News.”
    The full video showed that she had learned over time not to be racist – but they already knew that, as they had written it into her condemnation the previous day. Also, remember – the condemned her after  the White House demanded her resignation. They acted BEFORE Fox News Channel reported on it.
  • July 22: The New York Times blames Fox News.
  • July 22: Shirley Sharrod blames Fox News, and says she was fired because the Obama administration was afraid that she might appear on Fox News.
  • July 25: On Sunday Howard Dean, former DNC chair, appeared on Fox News parroting the talking point: It was Fox News’ fault, and they’re “absolutely racist” too. When asked by the fox host Chris Wallace if he knew that Fox didn’t even report the story until after she was fired, he just pressed further, calling people racist.
 
2 Comments

Posted in Politics, Reason

 

Jello is Racist, Part 1

25 Jul
Photo of racist jello

A sample photo of the racist dessert.

The NAACP, the Obama administration and former DNC chair Howard Dean “wholeheartedly condemned” gelatinous desserts today*. The NAACP issued a statement calling on “Jello and Jello-salads everywhere to condemn the racist elements within Jello.”

Obama’s press secretary issued a statement that read in part, “We will not be bamboozled by Jello in this silly season of politics. All gelatinous foods have been removed from the congressional cafeteria since several Democratic congressmen clearly heard racist remarks spoken by Jello in recent weeks.”

Jello is “absolutely racist,” former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean charged on Sunday. “Not one gelatin-based dessert has apologized to me or the congressmen whose feelings were hurt, nor did they apologize for the video shown regarding the Shirley Sherrod controversy. And I’ve been listening to a lot of Jello lately. We’ve got to stop being afraid of Jello!”

The rest of the story tomorrow.

* This piece is entirely satirical. If there’s something about Jello that actually is offensive, I’m not aware of it, and you should probably get over it.
 
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Posted in Politics

 

How to Fail at Arguing #5

20 Jul

radioOn my way home tonight I heard Randi Rhodes of Air America. In her very loud rant, she kept repeating two lines for the duration of my 10 minute drive.

First, she was responding to charges that the Democrats under Pelosi and Obama have grown the size of government. She listed the dozens of government departments that were created under the 8 years of Bush, totaling hundreds! I agree Randi, Bush shouldn’t have grown government so much. And conservatives said so at the time.

How to fail: Take the 2nd grade “I am rubber you are glue” approach.

When someone says your party is growing government bigger, respond with, “Your party grew the government bigger!” Randi’s response didn’t deal with whether a bigger government is good idea or a bad idea. Presumably Randi is in favor of the bigger government that her party is bringing, so her response is meaningless. All someone has to say is, “I don’t like that Bush grew the government by so much either,” and her argument is totally deflated.

Here’s how the argument could have gone:

Obama is growing the government! That’s bad!

Bush grew the government by huge amounts!

Right. That’s one of the ways Bush wasn’t very conservative. I agree that Bush expanding the government so much was a problem. I said so at the time.

Then the conversation could have gone somewhere productive, like talking about what the government should or should not do.

I think this usually happens when someone knows the negative claim against their position is true. Instead of explaining or justifying where they’re coming from, they simply deflect and say, “You too, you too!”

Another example I heard recently was in response to concerns that Obama could use the oil spill for a government power-grabs, to enforce huge new government programs. The response?

What – like Bush’s illegal wars against countries not even related to 9/11?

The original concern is still valid, but what’s worse is the double-standard. It’s good when Obama takes sweeping action in response to a crisis, but bad if Bush does it? How can there be any logic with such inconsistency? To respond by insulting when Bush did it is to say that it is a bad idea. If a power-grab during a crisis is a bad idea, it’s a bad idea.

Don’t say something is a bad idea when one person does it, but when another person does it, it’s pure righteousness.

 
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Posted in How to Fail at Arguing

 

American Moment #2

18 Jul

American Moment

Another moment where America feels like it should. Friends, families, kids hanging out, skateboarding, BBQing, playing. Just being.

Don’t get your impression of America from the agenda-driven politicians or agenda-driven news. Step outside and enjoy the greatness of America.

Don’t get you ideas about America from Michael Moore “documentaries” or a foreign government (no, we aren’t dying on the streets here due to guns or private health care).

This is America. It is great here.

Posted from my BlackBerry.

 
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Posted in Culture

 

American Moments

17 Jul

Sometimes walking by this part of the Platt River in Denver, Colorado, I feel like I’ve slipped into a Norman Rockwell painting, or some beautiful sidewalk chalk art (thinking of Mary Poppins here) of what America can be.

From the news, I’d never think this scene possible. Families and dogs hanging out together, umbrellas on the beach, the hot dog stand on the right. People of clearly diffent backgrounds hang out together on a lazy Friday afternoon, safely playing in the city.

America is great. Denver is great.

Posted from my BlackBerry.

 
1 Comment

Posted in Culture, personal

 
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