A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE OF THE WALL STREET PROTESTS

Yes, there is corruption in corporate America. We agree on that point. However the corruption on Wall Street isn’t due to the wealth of the 1%. But rather it is due to the universal corruption, self-centeredness and greed of the 100%. The Wall Street protesters are demanding that what the wealthy have should be given to them, and what drives them is nothing less than their own self-centeredness and greed, or in Biblical language, “covetousness.” That is, “I want what you have.”

Another valid point of the present demonstrations is bringing attention to the unholy alliance of government and business –crony capitalism. On that point, we also agree. To have a business community of self-centered human beings joined by a government community of self-centered human beings can only produce a powerful force of self-centered human beings –tyranny.

However the solution is not compulsory redistribution of wealth dictated by self-centered, greedy human beings using the force of government to take from others what they want for themselves. (Remember the French Revolution?) The answer is not legislation; it is leadership –moral leadership.

Government imposed re-distribution of wealth has never worked. As Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis told us, the choice is between the unequal sharing of blessings and the equal sharing of miseries. All one has to do is look to the former Soviet Union, the present condition of Cuba, or the unfolding situation in Europe to see where that economic philosophy takes us.

The answer is not in neo-communism, anarchy or in the rejection of our founding principles, but rather in the re-affirmation of those principles that undergird a virtuous society –capitalism framed by a Christian ethic.

We need moral leadership that will be able to effectively communicate the fact that we are one nation, under God, blessed with peace and prosperity as no other nation has ever known. And as such, we have a responsibility to help the less fortunate among us, not through the force of law, but by free and willing hearts, by corporations and wealthy people -the 1%- giving to charitable organizations, and their respective communities of faith to feed the hungry, and care for the poor.

However, for this to happen, there must be a genuine spiritual revival that will produce a new breed of selfless Americans who will be willing to sacrifice for others because they know the One who sacrificed for them. That’s the history of our nation. It’s the answer to our current dilemma. During the Second Great Awakening of the mid 19^th century, Charles Finney’s Benevolent Empire, a coalition of institutions dedicated to caring for the material needs of the poor, had a budget that nearly equaled the size of the federal government’s budget.

The answer isn’t one group of corrupt individuals demanding the goods of another group of corrupt individuals. The answer is in the love that a virtuous people have for one another when they come to know the One who is love.

Without Christ, we’re just managing the darkness. We must turn on the light! The Church must lead the way!

OF IGNORANCE AND ARROGANCE

Ignorance and arrogance, a dangerous combination. Unfortunately, this is what was demonstrated by President Obama’s recent big speech on the economy. He reminds me of the boy who found a hole in his blue jeans and was afraid his Mommy would yell at him so he grabbed the scissors to cut the hole out, so it wouldn’t be there when Mommy came home.

Unfortunately for our nation, this current administration is so deluded with Keynesian economic fantasy that no dosage of reality will apparently shake them from their mission to control, as they see it, an ignorant populace until they can usher in their egalitarian Utopia, “peace on earth” and a “chicken in every pot.”

They truly believe that it is an established fact that government is the answer. If one stimulus didn’t work, then obviously it must have been too small. Let’s go for more stimulus. Sure, cut the hole out of the jeans and see what you end up with. What is it that is said about the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result? If it’s not insanity, then we’re left with ignorance. There are no other choices.

Then you have the arrogance that is reflected in the tenor of the President’s speech as though he were scolding the Congress and the American people. Today he made another speech to Congress, showing up 30 minutes late, as usual, demonstrating his lack of respect, and his lack of accountability to those whom he is supposed to serve. It’s that arrogance that makes him unteachable. When he is fired by the American people in 2012 he will no doubt conclude that the American people were just not ready for him; we aren’t smart enough to appreciate his wisdom. Any student of world history will be familiar with that particular personality type as being characteristic of your average narcissistic tyrant dictator. Thank God for the separation of powers in our system that helps to protect us from such personalities, but only so long as we remain vigilant.

The demonstrated ignorance and arrogance -not to speak of the incompetence- of this current administration sends a clear message to reasonable thinking Americans: We must choose leaders who are educated in the ways of American traditions and values, and who are running for office, not because they are motivated by political ambition, but because they sense a divine calling to help lead America toward peace and prosperity for the benefit of the next generation.

Our experiment with a post modern humanist celebrity president has failed. It’s time to choose men and women who fear God and who understand the time-tested values that have made America the envy of the world because we were “One Nation Under God.” We must be so again, or succumb to ignorance and arrogance. The recent election in New York’s 9^th Congressional District where a Democratic majority voted overwhelmingly for a conservative Republican encourages me in the knowledge that Americans, even in New York, are neither ignorant nor arrogant, but rather intelligent and humbly grateful for God’s grace shed on us.

Same-sex Marriage is Regressive

I’m tired of hearing same-sex marriage proponents pontificate about how “progressive” and “socially evolving” their actions were in legalizing same-sex marriage when their actions were, in fact, the exact opposite.

It’s clear that proponents of this “pseudo marriage” are either totally uneducated (or mis-educated), or at best, they are very short-sighted in their view of world history.

Marriage was, in fact, a progressive step upward toward civilization when it was introduced by Jewish Law to a pagan and hedonistic world. The introduction of marriage was one of the civilizing institutions that brought order, peace and prosperity by defining the family, providing protection for women and a sense of responsibility for children.

Redefining marriage to make it what it used to be is not progressive, but regressive; it’s not social evolution but social devolution.

Let truth be told, even if it bursts the good feelings of those who don’t know history. There’s nothing progressive about same-sex marriage. Same-sex marriage is a step backward to the days of pre-civilization. Remember Sodom?

Social scientist Lewis Mumford explained it this way;

"Unable to create a meaningful life for itself, the personality takes its own revenge: from the lower depths comes a regressive form of spontaneity: raw animality forms a counterpoise to the meaningless stimuli and the vicarious life to which the ordinary man is conditioned. Getting spiritual nourishment from this chaos of events, sensations, and devious interpretations is the equivalent of trying to pick through a garbage pile for food." -The Conduct of Life 1951

Legalization of "Pseudo" Marriage.

Tonight the Republican State Senate legalized same-sex, “Pseudo” Marriage, further degrading social order and decency for the citizens of New York.

As an institute dedicated to the preservation of marriage and families for the well being our children and ensuing generations, we will double our efforts to right this wrong that has been imposed upon our citizens.

For the first time we find ourselves on the wrong side of the law, but when that law violates the higher moral law derived from the One who is the very source of our inalienable rights, then we must pledge our allegiance to that higher moral law, regardless of the personal cost.
Adoption of this Pseudo-Marriage is nothing less than rebellion toward God, who will not be mocked.

Despite protections for religious organizations this law will embolden the radical homosexual community to push Christians into the very closet homosexuals came out of.

This is certainly not the settlement of an issue, but rather the beginning of a new movement that will not rest until we are once again, “One Nation Under God,” and our laws once again reflect God’s order for his creation.

AN OPEN LETTER TO NEW YORK STATE REPUBLICAN SENATORS

Dear New York State Senators

A major cultural event hangs in the balance to be determined by your vote. If same-sex marriage becomes law in New York it will spark a new cultural battle in the war for decency and morality in the state in the same way that the Roe V. Wade decision by the U.S. Supreme Court did not settle the issue of abortion, but rather gave birth to a movement that will not rest until babies are, once again, protected in the womb.

James Wilson, the first Supreme Court Justice and father of our American Jurisprudence system taught us that civil law must always be consistent with divine law. In other words, the Bible--and in particular the New Testament-- is the standard against which all law must be measured.

The Old and the New Testament affirms that homosexual acts are always immoral. We dare not rely on human reason alone. It is that reasoning that has called six million Jews “schmattes,” which means “rags” thus dehumanizing them so they could be killed in the name of human progress. It is the same reasoning that calls unborn babies “products of conception,” thus dehumanizing them so they could be killed in the name of “a woman’s right to choose.”

Now, once again, the language is being manipulated to advance an ungodly agenda. Who would object to “Marriage Equality”? Why don’t they call it for what it is: “same-sex marriage”?

Civil rights laws regarding racial equality were accepted into our society because Americans understood the Biblical truth that we are all created equal, and that recognition of this truth is a step toward a “more perfect union,” but accepting an aberration of the definition of marriage leads us further from godly order, and in fact, back to a time before Jewish law introduced the concept of marriage. Proponents of same-sex marriage claim this to be a step in societal evolution. Their knowledge of human history is at best, short sighted, and at worst, ignorant of facts. Marriage was a step up in societal evolution. Same-sex marriage is a step backward. Remember Sodom?

I appeal to your sense of humility, and your desire to rule “in the fear of the Lord.” As the Father of our country, George Washington assured us:

“The propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained.”

If same-sex marriage becomes law it will launch a fight for righteousness in this state and nation that will not rest until we are once again, “One Nation Under God,” and the Bible is once again acknowledged as the objective standard against which all our laws are measured.

I beseech you: defend authentic marriage for the sake of the next generation.

Lessons From Weinergate

Congressman Anthony Weiner’s actions, as perverted and stupid as they were, were not an anomaly when it comes to the human condition, but rather a clear example of why we must insist on representatives whose passions and lusts are bridled by an inner moral compass inspired by a belief in God, and in the system of eternal rewards and punishment, as stated in almost all of our states’ founding documents. Our founders understood that men are driven by carnal passions with power to delude them into destructive and irrational behavior. Submission to God and his rules of order trains men to walk in integrity, until this new way of living displaces the natural carnal instincts inherent in the human condition. This moral character is what qualifies one to lead others into goodness, peace and prosperity.

This is precisely why we must never separate God from government or face having a government of liars and perverts. Remember Sodom?

Osama is Dead, But...

We celebrate today, the demise of Osama Bin Laden, and we thank God for the courageous men and women of our armed forces who brought us this victory. However, as I said several years ago, this is just one more battle in a fifty-year war against an ideology bent on the destruction of the West. Islamofacists are warring against liberty. They will never stop until they win, or they die trying.

The typical conventions of war do not apply to a people whose identity is caught up in the destruction of Israel and the West. This is their reason for living, and for dying. They sincerely believe that killing, and even dying for “Allah” is a good and noble thing. This mindset places them beyond the limits of reasonable discourse. Any talk of peace or cease-fire is nothing more than a strategic move on their part to rebuild and regain strength for the war that must be fought to the finish.

We must understand that this is like no other war we have ever fought. This is a war of ideologies. It will never be won until the next generation of future Jihadists is won over by the ideas of freedom and democracy. We are looking at no less than a fifty-year war to change the minds and hearts of millions of people. I question whether or not it can be done, but we must try, or succumb to tyranny. In times past, presidents have spoken clearly when explaining why we fight, that we were defending our liberty and our religion. Yes, the religion of Christianity in all its various expressions. They understood that liberty and Christianity are inseparable.

We will never win this war with bullets alone. We must win the hearts of the next generation while we neutralize their fathers who would rather die warring against the West than talk peace with “The Great Satan.” If they choose to die, then we must help them do so before they kill us. Then we must teach the principles of democracy, and the blessings of liberty to their children, if there is to be any chance of real peace for coming generations.

There must be no talk of “proportionate response.” This is not a game where “You take my pawn; I’ll take yours. “ No. This is war. The only acceptable proportionate response is the total neutralization of terrorist forces around the globe. Until then -and I am convinced it will be for no less than fifty years- we must continue to fight and support our allies, particularly Israel, relentlessly. The next generation of free people depends on no less.