Here We Go...

Anyone else concerned about our nation's slow but steady drift toward European socialism needs to read this lovely little article from The Times in England. As a fan of English Premier League football (soccer for you unenlightened savages) I pay more attention to British culture than most Americans, and I notice that a lot of our fads come from across the pond. It's all the rage in American liberal circles to aspire to the kind of progressive multicultural, politically correct, morally vapid, eco-nutcase mentality that has taken over the ruling class in England.

So what's next? Culling kids, apparently.

"Couples who have more than two children are being “irresponsible” by creating an unbearable burden on the environment, the government’s green adviser has warned.
"Jonathon Porritt, who chairs the government’s Sustainable Development Commission, says curbing population growth through contraception and abortion must be at the heart of policies to fight global warming. He says political leaders and green campaigners should stop dodging the issue of environmental harm caused by an expanding population."

Now It's Personal

Barack Obama:

"Look, I got two daughters — 9 years old and 6 years old," he said. "I am going to teach them first about values and morals, but if they make a mistake, I don't want them punished with a baby."

Such calculation. Note the extremely vague, but obligatory reference to "values and morals", which is supposed to convince us that he is in a terrible, but necessary moral conundrum.

I would, however, like to state that my own particular "punishment" turned 10 years old 2 weeks ago. If Obama understood the sovereignty of God, then he might realize that sometimes what seems like the worst possible circumstance can be turned into the greatest event of your life. ALL THINGS work together for the good of those who love the Lord. If what resulted from our making the difficult choice of life, after a lapse in judgement at the age of 18, was indeed a punishment...well then, "Thank you, sir, may I have another."

I suppose this explains my hostility towards the establishment of abortion on demand, but hindsight is a frightening thing when I realize how easy it would've been to make the wrong choice. The bottom line is that it shouldn't even be a choice. I now have proof that life is too precious to be treated with such disdain.

I hope this doesn't come off the wrong way. I'm not trying to boast about the fact that we were able to make the right choice in a difficult situation, and I would never condemn anyone who has been down the other road. It was only by God's grace that we were able to do what we did. I will, however, condemn those who have worked to make abortion the form of birth control that it has become, creating a so-called easy way out for people in desperate situations.

This also ties in to my previous post concerning evangelicals and the situation with Bristol Palin. My own similar experience with fellow believers gave me confidence that the base would stand by the Palins during this difficult time, despite the naive and ignorant hopes of the liberal media.

Palin and The Media

As issues at the office have kept me away from the blogosphere for the last week or so, I've been literally itching to get back to the keyboard and talk about what's going on in the presidential race. The treatment of Governor Palin by the mainstream press has been nothing short of dispicable, to say nothing of the treatment she's getting from our illustrious opponents on the left side of the web. It really is quite remarkable to see the hypocrisy in action as these luminaries of liberal thought quake in the shadow of a woman who is more man than any of them will ever be.

Liberals, and lefty feminists in particular, are rightly terrified of Sarah Palin and what she represents. A conservative woman who is a natural leader, an excellent speaker, a successful and popular executive in state government, and she's *gasp* attractive! And let's not forget that she has more experience running a government than their pathetic would-be messiah. But the most threatening thing of all for those on the left, who have supposedly been the champions of women's issues for so long, is that she does all of this while successfully raising a large family. She didn't let her career determine how many children she should have, and didn't exercise her "right" to end any of those pregnancies which might have hampered her career. She even chose to give birth to a child she knew would have Down Sydrome - a choice that completely baffles, and no doubt angers those who fight so hard for the ability to murder unborn children.

It really is quite amusing to see the press and everyone else on the left suggesting that Sarah Palin should stay home and tend to her family. After all, we all know that a woman's place is in the kitchen...are we in some kind of political bizzaro world? I really see this backfiring on the media and their client, the Obama campaign. Sarah Palin represents the best side of American politics: ordinary men and women, who have families and struggle with the same problems that every other American faces, going to Washington to represent their peers. This is what our government was supposed to be. Instead, we have a capital full of lawyers and career politicians who don't live in everyday America, and represent only themselves. Barack Obama is a prime example.

This "scandal" concerning Bristol Palin has revealed a good deal about the media, and the left in general. Apart from their obvious bias towards Obama, and any Democrat candidate, it has revealed a lot about how liberals in the media view evangelicals. There is a very good reason that this story has been plastered on every newspaper, magazine, and television screen ever since it was revealed that Bristol was pregnant. You see, liberals tend to see conservative evangelicals as Bible-thumping agents of condemnation and judgement. They reveal their complete lack of knowledge concerning true Christianity when they push this story in the hopes that we prudish, holier-than-thou Jesus freaks will turn on Palin. They honestly believe that we will do just that, simply because Palin has a daughter that hasn't lived up to the standards of the Bible. Don't get me wrong, I realize that there are many so-called Christians who act in this way, but no true believer can do anything but sympathize with the Palins in this situation.

So, here's a little lesson for those in the media and on the left, trying to figure out why this scandal has done nothing but solidify Palin's support among evangelicals. True Christians realize that every man and woman since Adam and Eve, save One, have fallen short of God's standards. The fact that we still try to live up to the law of God is a result of our relationship with Christ, not the means to such a relationship. No true Christian would ever do anything but pray for this family in a very difficult situation, and admire their courage and effectiveness as parents in raising a daughter who made the choice to give life to her child.

But please, by all means, continue spewing this garbage at the Palins. You are doing nothing more than rallying the average American to their cause. If this is what happens when ordinary, outside-the-beltway people try to do what the founding fathers intended, then you do us all a service by awakening the public to the brokenness of our system.

The Saddleback Forum

First of all, let me say that my fears about the Saddleback forum were for the most part unrealized. I think, all things considered, that was about as good as we could have expected from this kind of event. I want to say that I'm proud of Rick Warren for not avoiding the issue of abortion, and Obama's answer to the abortion question was very revealing for any pro-life voter.

Warren: "At what point does a baby get human rights in your view?"

Obama: "Well, I think that whether you are looking at it from a theological perspective or a scientific perspective, answering that question with specificity, you know, is above my pay grade...[several minutes of posturing and dancing around any actual answer to the question]...I am pro-choice. I believe in Roe V. Wade and come to that conclusion not because I am pro-abortion, but because ultimately I don't think women make these decisions casually...[bold-faced lie about making the Democrat Party platform less radical on abortion and typical liberal drivel about keeping abortion 'rare']..."

Thank you, Pastor Warren, for forcing the Obamessiah into revealing his atypical, ultra-liberal-wanting-to-win-a-national-election abortion stance: "I am personally against abortion, but don't have the courage to stand against it." What if William Wilberforce had taken the same approach to slavery? Obama's answer to this question reveals how out of touch he is with the evengelical community on a very important issue.

Rick Warren Goes to Washington

Okay, so it's more like Washington comes to Rick Warren, but you get the idea. I wrote a while back about the two presidential candidates' upcoming appearance at Saddleback. In that post, I wondered whether Rick Warren would have the courage to ask difficult questions of the two candidates, especially concerning Obama's stance on abortion. Well, it looks like I'm not the only one wondering about these things.

Hunter has posted an open letter to Rick Warren over at Redstate, challenging him to force Obama to explain his support for partial birth abortions, his efforts to defeat the Born Alive Infant Protection Act, and his support for abortion on demand in general. I realize that the Saddleback forum is supposed to focus on other things like poverty and HIV/AIDS, issues that Warren has been championing within the church for years. But I would have to argue that the issue of infant murder within our own nation is of more importance right now.

In fact, as I pointed out in my previous post, Rick Warren openly encouraged pastors and other leaders to support President Bush in 2004 for this and other reasons. I'm a little confused as to why he doesn't seem to be taking the same stand in this election.

Of course, I'd also love to see Pastor Warren challenge Obama on his embrace of liberal theology and the social gospel, asking questions that would reveal his selective affinity for the red letters over those other inconvenient "obscure passages", but that would probably be asking too much.

Presidential Politics & The Church

Rick Warren, author of the hugely popular "The Purpose Driven Life" and pastor of the influential Saddleback Church in California, has been stepping into the world of politics more and more lately. In an effort to encourage both his church, and the church as a whole, to be more involved in surrounding culture and society, he has established the P.E.A.C.E Plan. This plan is described as a "50 year strategy to mobilize millions of local churches around the world to address five global problems: spiritual emptiness, corrupt leadership, poverty, disease and illiteracy." Last November, the church hosted a Global Summit on AIDS and The Church at which Hillary Clinton gave an address, and the church is involved in numerous programs which encourage churches and members to address the problems they see throughout our society.

In another attempt to engage his flock, and other believers around the world, in this very important election, Saddleback will be the host of a Civil Forum on Leadership and Compassion on August 16. Both John McCain and Barack Obama have accepted the invitation to speak at the event, and I will be extremely interested to see how this plays out. I certainly agree that the church needs to be more involved in helping to solve the problems that plague our society, and I realize that the church, as a whole, has not done enough to address these problems up to now. I also wish that our churches would become more involved in the political process. The more liberal mainstream denominations have been politically active for years, and I think it's high time the more orthodox believers stopped withdrawing from society and started changing it for The Kingdom.

I want to believe that Pastor Warren has the right intentions, I know that he wants to see the Gospel advanced, but he seems to be edging ever closer toward programs for social change, and developing the marketing scheme for his ministries, at the expense of preaching truth from Scripture. My concern is that this particular foray into presidential politics will end up like the AIDS forum back in November, at which Hillary Clinton received a standing ovation, and lavish praise from Rick Warren himself after presenting a speech that was at best an endorsement of the Social Gospel - which is no Gospel at all. This is the danger when a church begins to focus too much on social change, and not enough on the Gospel. We need to find a happy medium, but recognize that social change should come as a result of a saving knowledge of Christ, through a church that is focused on the Great Commission. I sincerely hope that Mr. Warren will engage Barack Obama and John McCain on the issues that concern Christian voters, including abortion, but I'm not optimistic. Pastor Warren has done a great deal in raising awareness about AIDS and poverty around the globe, but lately says very little about this particular plague, which claims the lives of over a million children every year IN THIS COUNTRY.

Back in 2004 Rick Warren openly encouraged other pastors and Christians to vote for George W. Bush, citing a number of issues that he deemed to be of extreme importance to believers, and claiming that "those of us who accept the Bible as God's Word" should get out the vote for Bush. This election, he seems to be trying to chart a more moderate course, and I can't understand his reasoning for this. Those issues haven't changed - they are still crucial to the direction of this nation - and the Biblical position on those issues remains the same as well. On August 17, the day after this Civil Forum, Pastor Warren will give a sermon entitled "Making Up Your Mind: Questions to Consider Before the Election." It will be very interesting to see what advice he gives to his flock after hearing what the candidates have to say.