Various Political Posts
States’ Rights and the 10th Amendment in Oklahoma
STATES’ RIGHTS IN OKLAHOMA
Wednesday, July 16, 2008–There is a wonderful movement in Oklahoma to get the State Legislature to acknowledge the 10th Amendment to the US Constitution as still being in place and important. House Joint Resolution 1089 has been put forward by State Representative Charles Key (Republican, Oklahoma City). Though it passed 92-3 in the House, the Senate has it blocked for now. Read Walter Williams’ column from Townhall, then check out Rep. Key. This is an outstanding move by Oklahoma.
Though I was born in Colorado, I grew up in Oklahoma, all my schooling was in Oklahoma through college at OU. I lived in Elk City, Woodward, Clinton, but mainly Bartlesville and then Norman while in college. In the last 23 years I have lived in Fort Worth, TX but I have kept up a little bit with Oklahoma politics and religion. Oklahoma may very well be the most conservative state in America. That is a badge she should wear proudly! From passing a great concealed carry law, to immigration reform to this bill seeking to re-establish the 10th Amendment, Oklahoma is leading the way!
townhall.com/Columnists/WalterEWilliams/2008/07/16/oklahoma_rebellion
forums.vote-smart.org/bio.php?can_id=24504
Differences Between Socialists and Conservatives
As far back as my childhood, say Jr. High, I have noticed that those of a liberal persuasion (I will now tend to call them what they are, socialists) have not only different political views, but different morals, different views on the family, religion, economics and in fact are, at a very personal level, fundamentally different than my conservative friends. In recent years these differences have been studied by professional pollsters and sociologists. About 15-20 years a book came out called something like, “Why Conservative Churches Are Growing, and Mainline Churches Are Not”. While I never read the book, I do remember some articles about it and the gist of it was that conservative churches grow because they take strong doctrinal and social stands and have high requirements for membership. Much more recently, a few months ago I saw a study about charitable giving by conservatives versus giving by liberals/socialists and the conservatives outgave by far the liberals, even though liberals tended to have more income.
Now today I happened to read an excellent article from Realclearpolitics.com by Peter Schweizer that really adds some meat to this hypothesis. He distills some key surveys and polls and gives us the good news: Conservatives are in fact, demonstrably and quatifiably nicer people. Here is the story:
And here is a wonderful column by Dennis Praeger, one of my favorites, about Politics and Religion comparing Europe with America:
http://www.townhall.com/Columnists/DennisPrager/2007/12/18/secular_europe_or_religious_america
And then there is this article by Stuart Rothenberg of RealClearPolitics.com that speaks to why many Evangelicals distrust mormons who are running for office. If mormons would just quit claiming to be Christians just like Evangelicals, Protestants and Catholics, and instead say what they really believe and teach then I would not hae as much of a problem with voting for someone like Mitt Romney. It is the intentional deception by the LDS church that drives me to not want to vote for an otherwise highly qualified candidate!
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/12/why_mitt_romney_cant_solve_his.htmlMonday, December 17, 2007–Here is an article by the LA Times, notable liberal paper, that discusses some of the beliefs of the LDS church, including the idea of Jesus and Lucifer being brothers. While they are spirit brothers, along with the rest of us, notice that the explanation includes hints of the sexual reproduction aspects of God. This LA Times article is absolutely in keeping with what I studied about mormonism in seminary.
And here is an official looking LDS website that explains mormon beliefs. It is absolutely a must to read what they say about themselves.
Notice that in the above site under the category of “The Great Apostasy” you will find that mormons, including Mitt Romney, believe that all other denominations or churches have apostatized from the faith. This shows that the mormons really don’t believe that they are Christians just like us, they are the restored true church. This is stated even more clearly in the tab named “The Restoration of the Gospel”.
Wednesday, 12-12-2007—Here is an interesting question raised by Gov. Mike Huckaby in an interview. I find it VERY INTERESTING that the mormon quoted does not answer the question directly, but gives a very evasive answer. I have studied mormon theology quite a bit and can tell you that the LDS church DOES teach that Jesus and Lucifer were “spirit” brothers fathered by Heavenly Father. If you are going to discuss theology with any mormon, you must get them to define their terms or you will get deceived!
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8TFL9B81&show_article=1
Tuesday, December 4, 2007—Here is another good piece on the Putin/Chavez Votes from the WSJ.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/bstephens/?id=110010942
Monday, December 3, 2007—Putin’s party wins big in Russia, but accusations of blatant rigging abound. Chavez loses his proposed referendum vote. I am not surprised that Putin won but I am a little surprised at Chavez’s loss. There is no hope for Russia; they have always been an autocratic system of some kind and this brief experiment in democracy is an abberation. There is only slightly more hope for the people of Venezuela. South America does not have a real good record of democracy, but some of the basics are there. The folks of Venezuela approached the precipice of communism and backed away.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/23eb2d80-a1e6-11dc-a13b-0000779fd2ac.html?nclick_check=1
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20071203/D8TA96601.html
Friday, November 30, 2007 The People of Venezuela are finally waking up to the efforts of their goofy President to turn their country into a communist state. See the story about the protest below. Pray for the referendum to fail so that Venezuela would regain its freedom.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8T7H9BO0&show_article=1
On this Sunday, 12-2-07, not only is Venezuela voting, but there is a crucial election is the Soviet Uni..oops…I mean Russia. Czar, I mean President Putin is apparently resorting to some extreme dirty tricks to get his party re-elected. The following story reads like it came from the old Soviet days which is exactly where Putin seems to be leading Russia.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/russia/article/0,,2219492,00.html
Keep in mind that Putin is ex-KGB (Soviet spy service). For an in depth treatment of recent Russian history and the decline of freedom under Putin, read this article at the Heritage Foundation:
http://www.heritage.org/Research/WorldwideFreedom/bg2088.cfm
Thursday, November 29, 2007 A new Cold War era has begun, and cyber attacks are the tactic of choice. Read this story for an update on the free world’s vulnerabilities:
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSL2932083320071129?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&rpc=22&sp=true
A key quote:
The report said China is at the forefront of the cyber war. It said China has been blamed for attacks in the United States, India and Germany. China has repeatedly denied such claims.
“The Chinese were first to use cyber-attacks for political and military goals,” James Mulvenon, director of the Center for Intelligence and Research in Washington, was quoted as saying in the report.
In our information age the West is particularly vulnerable because of our open, trusting society and the desire for high tech gadgetry and instant communications. In the cyber wars, for right now it looks like the advantage goes to the offense. One of the advantages the bad guys have is that they all know English. How many of the good guys know Chinese or Russian?
In any future war, you can count on the first strike being a cyber attack on our C3 (command, control & communications) and probably our financial systems and likely our public services as well. Picture this scenario: an enemy wants to attack one of our allies, but does not want a direct shooting war with us. They merely want to keep us out of the fight. The enemy attacks our C3, redirects some of our spy satellites or shoots them down, blocks the internet and attacks a few cities’ power and water systems. The internal chaos in the US would be so great that the public would ignore a foreign war.
Here are a couple of theological questions: Where does Cyber War fit under the Just War theory? Should the Church start preparing/planning for ministry during a time of chaos where our technology fails us? What would the church do if all of a sudden the electric grid fails and is down for months?
China Preparing To Attack Any Satellite that Passes Over China: read the following story in light of the above story and you will see that cyber wars and space wars go together.
http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/WTARC/2007/ea_china_11_29.aspImmigration at its highest levels in US history, one out of every 8 people in America is an immigrant, more than half of immigrants in last 7 yrs are illegal. Read the story below:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/11/29/america/immig.php?WT.mc_id=rssfrontpage
Theological issues regarding illegal immigration: It seems that I have only seen one side of this debate- I have heard of churches and ministries that shelter and care for many illegal immigrants. But isn’t there another side to this story? Should not the Church also be concerned about preserving the laws of the land when the laws are not burdensome or unjust? If massive amounts of illegals take advantage of our schools, hospitals, jails and social services in’t that taking money from the taxpaying citizens? The standard tactic used by many is to throw down the “What would Jesus do?” line. My response to that is to say Jesus did not come to settle petty political issues, he came to die for our sins. If you want to follow Jesus’ example individually by treating an illegal with charity and respect, that is fine, I have done the same numerous times as I have worked with many illegals through the years. But do not take a personal ethic and try to apply it at a national level. The beatitudes are for the individual and the church, not necessarily for society in this age.
W ell, I cannot settle this issue here, but I would like to see someone more skilled than I, do a serious theological study of the problem of illegal immigration.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007 President Bush is hosting a Middle East Peace Conference at Annapolis.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21967589/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21972931/
I admit to having a heavy pessimistic streak when it comes to modern politics, diplomacy and “peace talks”, so I am not optimistic about this Annapolis conference. What all my readings in history and theology have shown me is that man is a sinner to the core and unless he is compelled to do the right thing, make peace with his neighbor whom he hates, he will stubbornly resist. What makes for a lasting peace is for one side to win overwhelmingly in war so that the other side is unable as well as unwilling to carry on the struggle. In the US Civil War the South was so overwhelmingly defeated that the slave based culture received a death blow (yes, it took another 100 years before civil rights for black Americans became common). In WW1, the Germans were not decisively defeated, they did not surrender- they merely signed an armistice- and consequently, WW2 broke out 20 years later. Despite all of the mid-east wars involving Israel and the arabs, there has not been a decisive victory for either side, therefore I do not see this peace conference bringing true peace.
I do not think war is the only means of achieving peace, though it is the usual means. If two peoples can have a long enough truce, and they begin to trade and have economic and cultural ties, then perhaps a lasting peace can evolve. We won the cold war with the USSR this way (and this long struggle did involve some shooting wars: Korea, Viet-Nam and Afghanistan, along with significant military spending which helped to break the Soviet bank). But I do not see this happening in the mid-east because the differences in religion and culture are too basic. Fundamentally, I do not see the lands of islam ever reaching a point of peaceful co-habitation with anyone, Israel or Western Civilization. These two worldviews are so opposite that they cannot coexist in the same world. With communism and capitalism, there was enough in common to eventually reach a peace.
See Ralph Peters comments on the Annapolis Conference here:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7fca1ffa-9c2b-11dc-bcd8-0000779fd2ac.html?nclick_check=1
November 26, 2007 A Plot By Muslim Terrorists and Mexican Drug Lords To Attack Military Intelligence School:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071126/NATION/111260034/1001
In this story we see the danger of having what amounts to an open border. Until we get serious about controlling the border we are going to be very vulnerable. Notice that this story has not been widely disseminated. This is the only mention of the plot I have seen. Things like this only become TV news if the terrorists actually get lucky and get a hit on a US target. The story does not tell us if any arrests have been made, so it is safe to assume this is still under investigation and awaiting further developments.
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/018921.php
Mike Adam’s Reading List:
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MikeSAdams/2007/11/26/winter_reading
Mike Adams is a Christian professor of Criminology at UNC-Wilmington and a columnist for Townhall.com.
And here is a good piece about the 2nd amendment from Human Events:
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=23590#continueA
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Missouri Beats Undefeated Kansas To Win Big 12 North; Rematch with OU Next Saturday:
http://msn.foxsports.com/cfb/story/7486500
http://msn.foxsports.com/cfb/story/7487462?MSNHPHCP>1=10637
OK, if this is some kind of Theology blog, why are we talking about football? Because I believe Jesus is Lord over all of life and football is part of life! I really do not want to be one dimensional in this blog, so I include this page about the news. If you check out my links to the right you will see a lot of political links and a military history link. As pastors and theologians we ought to deal with all of life.
This football season in the NCAA has been one of the greatest of all time. And it really started back on January 1 when my alma mater, OU, lost to Boise State in one of the very best college football games ever. See story here: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=270010201
Now, since #1 LSU lost to Arkansas in triple OT, and #2 KU lost to #3 Missouri, and #10 OU will play Missouri next week for the Big 12 Championship, this gives OU a chance to really move up in the polls.
And in the NFL, the Dallas Cowboys, my favorite pro team ( I live in Fort Worth) faces the Green Bay Packers this next week and both teams are 10-1. All in all, this season is shaping up to be the best football season in a long time for both the NFL and NCAA.
Iranian Navy Launches Homemade Submarine:
Something about Iran building a submarine does not strike fear into my heart!
Richard Holbrooke Warns of Impending Trouble in the Balkans:
As if we don’t have enough to worry about militarily and diplomatically with Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, N.Korea, China-Taiwan, now it is apparent that the ever troublsome Balkans are heating up again. Keep in mind that this is the place where WW1 started 93 years ago. here is a column by Holbrooke:
But for a counterpoint to Holbrooke, read Morrisey’s column below. What neither writer mentions is that because Presidents Bush (41) and Clinton both cut the size of the US military to roughly half what it was in 1990, we are unable to do what needs to be done. While I agree with Morrisey that the Balkans is primarily a European problem, and that the US has nowhere near the strategic interest in the Balkans as we do in the mid-east, I think he overestimates the ability of the UN or NATO or the EU to act in anything resembling an effective manner without the US there to lead the charge.
http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/archives/016097.php
Saturday, 11-24-2007, News of the Day
Richard Roberts, President of Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma, resigns amid multiple scandals, lawsuits and possible criminal investigation. See the story below:
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5j9XJtq8scoszIFZLWUjrR8mPuBFQD8T3TOH80
I grew up in that part of Oklahoma and had some High School friends go to Oral Roberts University. While I can wholeheartedly say that I have known many godly charismatics and that the Lord has certainly used many of their faithful ministers to further the kingdom, I can also say that heresy and unorthodox doctrines and practices abound and ORU has long been associated with some degree of wackiness (note the technical Greek terminology here). Living close to Tulsa and attending OU during the late ’70′s I got to see the infamous “City of Faith” hospital project being built. Oral Roberts claimed at the time some pretty outlandish things like, if he didn’t build it God would take him out. Alas, today the buildings are underutilized with a high vacancy rate.
This is all just another tragedy for Christianity as we shoot ourselves in the foot in front of the world. I reckon we ought to pray for the student body, faculty, etc. because there are lots of genuine believers who have been hurt by all this mess. Our charismatic brothers need a biblical, doctrinal and Holy Spirit revival to bring them back out of so much foolishness that is publicly going on in their ranks. (Of course, as a Baptist, we have so much bad doctrine and sin within our own ranks that I fear for our future as well). Here are some website addresses for related stories:
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=071005_1_A13_spanc70288http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9E0DE1D81339F933A15753C1A967948260
http://www.answers.com/topic/cityplex-towers
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John Howard’s party loses the election in Australia, expect major change in how Australia supports the US war on terror. See the story below:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21945113/
Friday, 11-23-2007, News of the Day
The Dallas Cowboys and the Green Bay Packers both won their games yesterday, each now with a 10-1 season, setting up what is likely a preview of the NFC Championship Game next week as the Packers and Cowboys face off.
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/7479162
Football is the only sport that I follow with any sense of regularity and is the only team sport I ever competed in back in Jr. High (Untimely injuries prevented me from playing football in High School, and at 5’2″-5’5″ and 120-130 lbs I was a bit small for HS ball). I grew up watching the Dallas Cowboys and Texas Longhorns with my dad, but also, since I lived in Oklahoma most of my childhood and youth, I watched the Sooners. While attending OU 1977-81 I saw some great football and one national championship. Consequently, today I still follow the Sooners and Cowboys.
Interesting Muslim Interview in this next story reported by Mona Charen:
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MonaCharen/2007/11/23/an_egyptian_makes_the_case_for_america
When you begin reading the output of MEMRI, the Middle East Media Research Institute (memri.org), you are at first blown back by the intensity of the hatred, deliberate lies and fantasy that characterize so much of the journalism from the Arab and Middle Eastern press. MEMRI dutifully translates it without comment…. But there are other voices, too. There are figures within the Muslim world who make the case for democracy, liberalism (small l) and historical accuracy better than we do. Actually, that isn’t terribly hard. We are so internally riven, so crippled by political correctness and so guilty about our success that we do not make the case for ourselves very well at all. Besides, those unfamiliar with the level of fantasy and invention in the Arab press are ill equipped to fight the battle where it needs to be engaged….
Magdi Khalil, on the other hand, an Egyptian/American writer, really seemed to score points when he appeared on Al Jazeera last month to debate Mahmoud Al-Mubarak, a Saudi expert on international law. They began with the resolution Congress passed (over the administration’s objections) condemning the Armenian genocide 100 years ago. Mubarak heaped contempt on the United States, asking, “Who if not Congress legislated laws in 1848, permitting the annihilation of the Indians?” and what of “Andrew Jackson, whose portrait is on the $20 bill, considering the killing of Indians a duty, and he even mutilated corpses of Indians?”
The United States, Khalil responded, “has made mistakes in the past with regard to the blacks and the Indians, but it has paid the price and acknowledged its mistakes. Hundreds of books in America acknowledge what happened to the blacks and the Indians.” Museums have been erected, he added, telling the stories of these events. Yet, in Turkey, it remains a crime to say that genocide was committed against the Armenians.
When Mubarak cast the usual (for a Saudi) aspersions on the historicity of the Holocaust (“the alleged Holocaust”), Khalil wheeled on him. “The two greatest genocides of the 20th century are the crimes of annihilating the Armenians and the Holocaust. Despite this, not a single Arab or Islamic country acknowledges this or denounces the Turks. Unfortunately, they cast doubt about it and refer to it as ‘accusations.’ The events of the Holocaust took place 50-60 years ago, yet you deny them. So what do you do with regard to ancient history, most of which has been distorted in Arab and Islamic countries? If you deny the history of 50, 60 or 90 years ago, for which there are still living witnesses, what will you do with ancient history?”
“The discourse coming out of the Arab and Islamic region is a disgrace,” Khalil argued. “In Darfur and south Sudan, severe human rights violations occur — ethnic cleansing, the murder of millions and rape. Yet no one but the West exposes what is happening in south Sudan and Darfur. It is the West that attacked Serbia. It is the West that established the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. It is the West that protects the independence of Kosovo.”
At this juncture, the moderator (if you can call him that) was impelled to interrupt. “With regard to Darfur, are you trying to convince the Arab world that the American wolf, as Dr. Al Mubarak has called him, is shedding a tear over what is happening in Darfur? There is oil in Darfur, and they don’t care about all the Arabs and Muslims put together.”
Khalil responded: “That’s all nonsense. That deceiving propaganda is all around you — oil and all that. Do you know how much was spent on Iraq? Even if America were to take Iraq’s oil for the next 200 years, it would not compensate for what it has spent on Iraq. You are used to spreading delusions, lies and deceiving propaganda. Give us one example when you supported human rights in any country?”…..
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Here is a good column by Burt Prelutsky:
http://www.townhall.com/Columnists/BurtPrelutsky/2007/11/23/jews_and_the_evangelicals
And for whatever reason, I have enjoyed following the news from France in recent years. They have had so many problems with their economy and muslim immigrants, the anti-americanism of the Chirac government, and now the turnaround by the Sarkozy government. It is good to have an ally in France again! Here is a story about the strike in the French public transportation workers union:
http://www.nysun.com/article/66884
Basically the strike is failing, Sarkozy remained strong, and some much needed economic reforms now have a chance to grow the French economy.
Here is political story about the differences between the Dems and Repubs. The Democrats always seem to try to say they stand up for the poor and the little guy, they always accuse the Republicans of being for the rich, yet as the survey reveals, the Democrats are the real party of the rich.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071123/NATION/111230087/1002
News for Thanksgiving Day, Nov.22, 2007
1) I have been tracking the rise of the Chinese military for about the last 10 yrs. Here is another story:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071122/NATION/111220068/1001
At least now it seems Congress is finally taking notice of the technological advances of the PRC military.
2) Here is a positive story out of the Iraq War:
3) And here is another story on the upcoming Supreme Court case on the 2nd Amendment.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/11212007/postopinion/opedcolumnists/lawyers__guns__washington_537742.htm
Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2007
1) In this article entitled “Concerns Persist Over Chinese Anti-Satellite Test” from Tuesday, 11-20-07, I give the essential quotes below. http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=071120171847.ztwhdd8q&show_article=1
“China used a ballistic missile to intercept and destroy one of its own ageing weather satellites in low Earth orbit on January 11 in a test that demonstrated the vulnerability of US satellites.
Senior US military officials have said the test was a wake-up call and that China will be able to disrupt US military communications in a conflict within three years.
Chinese officials have responded to US questions about the test with bland assurances that it was not hostile and posed no threat, US officials have said.”
I think the US military is way too dependent upon our high tech capabilities like computers, internet and satellites. These are all excellent tools and should continue to be developed and utilized, but we ought to have a back up plan of some sort for what to do if/when the high tech gadgets are taken down by any hostile power. Our satellites and computers are similar to the French Maginot line built after the first world war to defend against Germany. Of course in 1939 the Germans simply went through Belgium, again, who had not completed their part of the chain of forts. The Germans also used airborne troops, airpower and mobility to overcome the static defenses.
QQ: What would YOU do if a foreign power were able to knock out all of our power and communications grid?
2) Now for a story about the economy:
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/071121/dollar.html?.v=3
One positive thing the story leaves out is that because the dollar is weaker, people from overseas can purchase more US goods and services because our things are now relatively cheaper. Conversely, the price of foreign manufactured goods will increase for those of us here.
3) Here are a couple of editorials on the upcoming US Supreme Court case from Washington DC about the 2nd Amendment:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20071121/EDITORIAL/111210009/1013
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/21/opinion/21wed2.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper
