What’s interesting in the news today?
I guess we start with some good news from North Dakota. 🙂
From LifeNews
““Gov. Jack Dalrymple today signed HB 1305, HB 1456 and SB 2305 and provided the following statements to the Legislature:”
“I have signed HB 1305 which would ban abortions performed solely for the purpose of gender selection and genetic abnormalities.
I have signed HB 1456 which would ban abortions after the detection of a fetal heartbeat. Although the likelihood of this measure surviving a court challenge remains in question, this bill is nevertheless a legitimate attempt by a state legislature to discover the boundaries of Roe v. Wade. Because the U.S. Supreme Court has allowed state restrictions on the performing of abortions and because the Supreme Court has never considered this precise restriction in HB 1456, the constitutionality of this measure is an open question. The Legislative Assembly before it adjourns should appropriate dollars for a litigation fund available to the Attorney General.
I have signed SB 2305 which requires admitting and staff privileges at a nearby hospital for any physician who performs abortions in North Dakota. The added requirement that the hospital privileges must include allowing abortions to take place in their facility greatly increases the chances that this measure will face a court challenge. Nevertheless, it is a legitimate and new question for the courts regarding a precise restriction on doctors who perform abortions.””
More here on the banning of abortion based on Down Syndrome, as well as gender preference based abortions. Also via LifeNews
“With the governor’s signature on the ban today, North Dakota has become the first state to ban abortions based on genetic “defects” like Down Syndrome. When diagnosed before birth, such genetic abnormalities prompt couples to have abortions 90 percent of the time.”
“The measure would also ban abortion based on gender selection, an issue of increasing concern in the United States has people from nations like China and India migrate to the United States and bring their cultural preference for boys with them.”
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Then some possibly good news. Or just wishful thinking. But the quicker we lame duck the current President, the better.
From Bloomberg
“U.S. Senator Tim Johnson’s announcement that he’ll retire after the 2014 election just made the Democrats’ job of holding their Senate majority a lot tougher.
Johnson, 66, the Senate banking committee chairman, is the second Democrat from a state won by Republican nominee Mitt Romney last year to say he won’t seek re-election in 2014. The announcement today means his party must defend two open seats and support five other Democratic incumbents running for re-election in Republican-leaning states.”
““The battle for the Senate will come down to Democrats’ability to hold seats in Republican-leaning states,” said Nathan Gonzales, deputy editor of the non-partisan Rothenberg Political Report, based in Washington. “A lot depends on how popular the president is” next year “because if people are dissatisfied, their option is to vote against the president’s party.””
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And then it starts to go downhill. 😦
It sounds like good news for a change due to ObamaCare, more jobs. But there’s a catch.
From HotAir
“Today, the Washington Post discovers that the Law of Unintended C0nsequences applies to ObamaCare, too. Thanks to the massive costs added to hiring full-time workers, businesses now want to operate on cash-only relationships with labor:
The health-care law could prove to be a boon for temporary-staffing companies as employers outsource jobs to sidestep complex requirements for medical insurance.
But some experts say the Affordable Care Act’s exceptions for temporary employees could undercut the goal of expanding coverage to more American workers.
“That could lead to an increase in part-time workers” who lack insurance, said Susan N. Houseman, an economist at the Upjohn Institute for Employment Research who studies staffing companies. “You regulate something and people will always try to find a way around the regulation.”
Gee, nobody saw that comin’ huh? 🙄
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Then we get a GRINCH ALERT!!! and it’s not even Christmas. 😦
From FoxNews
“Boys and girls at an Alabama elementary school will still get to hunt for eggs – but they can’t call them ‘Easter Eggs’ have the principal banished the word for the sake of religious diversity.”
““We had in the past a parent to question us about some of the things we do here at school,” said Heritage Elementary School principal Lydia Davenport. “So we’re just trying to make sure we respect and honor everybody’s differences.””
““Kids love the bunny and we just make sure we don’t say ‘the Easter Bunny’ so that we don’t infringe on the rights of others because people relate the Easter bunny to religion,” she told the television station. “ A bunny is a bunny and a rabbit is a rabbit.”
🙄 And you’re a weasel Ms. Davenport. They’d probably lock the school down if anybody dared mention Jesus’ name in connection with Easter.
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But I guess as annoying as that is, it’s nothing compared to the persecution other believers face. And this is who our govt. is supporting and funding.
From FoxNews
“Islamic hard-liners stormed a mosque in suburban Cairo, turning it into torture chamber for Christians who had been demonstrating against the ruling Muslim Brotherhood in the latest case of violent persecution that experts fear will only get worse.
Such stories have become increasingly common as tensions between Egypt’s Muslims and Copts mount, but in the latest case, mosque officials corroborated much of the account and even filed a police report. Demonstrators, some of whom were Muslim, say they were taken from the Muslim Brotherhood headquarters in suburban Cairo to a nearby mosque on Friday and tortured for hours by hard-line militia members.
“They accompanied me to one of the mosques in the area and I discovered the mosque was being used to imprison demonstrators and torture them,” Amir Ayad, a Coptic who has been a vocal protester against the regime, told MidEast Christian News from a hospital bed.”
““There is no longer anything to hold them back. The floodgates are open.”
And in Libya more of the same, from CNSNews
“On Feb. 12, about two years after the U.S. government first militarily intervened in Libya to advance the cause of Libyan revolutionaries and five months after Libyan terrorists murdered Amb. Chris Stevens and three other Americans in that country, the post-revolutionary Libyan government arrested a U.S. citizen for allegedly “proselytizing” Christianity in Benghazi.
As of today, according to both a senior administration official and a State Department spokesperson, this U.S. citizen remains imprisoned in post-Qaddafi Libya.
The Libyan government also arrested seven other Christians in Benghazi in connection with the same alleged case of Christian proselytizing. These include a South African woman, a South Korean man and five Egyptian men.”
And again, this is who we’re propping up.
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Wandering Views 
Don’t watch this if you haven’t taken your blood pressure meds yet. It’s not so much that I believe Piers Morgan and Suze Orman are on the wrong side of the debate, it’s that neither they nor, apparently, their mob of followers know HOW to debate:
http://blog.heritage.org/2013/03/26/video-ryan-anderson-debates-marriage-with-piers-morgan-suze-orman/
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Interesting…I thought all would be OK as long as we didn’t call them Ressurection Eggs. Neither the name Easter or the eggs have anything to do with the ressurection of Christ…
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All of it is why we sacrifice to send our son to a Christian school.
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The front page of the Times-News says that our Congressman Mark Meadows wants to cut government waste.
I was reading in the Washington Times about “Doomed defense programs cost billions”. How government programs escalate in cost. It’s a long article, but this paragraph is the kernel:
“It works this way. Low early cost estimates get Pentagon civilians and Congress to start funding. Development and manufacturing sites are set up to create jobs in various states. After several years, cost start rising above original estimates.
But Pentagon civilians keep approving the projects because they already have invested taxpayer money. And lawmakers fear jobs will disappear or the force will miss out on needed modernization.”
At the Naval War College, they taught us to never consider sunk costs in evaluating a project.
It has been wise advice that I have considered several times in my personal life.
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the sad part that is happen today is people have no problem restricting the Christian Speech because we are view as a treat to soceity transformation.
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Charles, that War College advice, also, applies to investments. I have taken a substantial hit in the last few months on an Apple investment, though regard that as a sunk investment; lately, I have bought more shares of Apple at a very favorable price. Many investors, having lost money on a stock, mistakenly become obsessed with sunk costs.
Of course, this doesn’t apply to investments that are lemons to begin with.
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Our nation is at a turning point in history, The Word of God is clear, the anti-Christ is going to come to power. How will our nation surrender its freedom to the Anti-Christ? One vote at a time.
Over the past years, we have seen a trend in this nation, The Christian Faith is being betray as hate and bigotry faith, the Word of God and the Church is being view as the enemy of our Nation by many people and by people in position of authorized.
Our Nation has told God, He is not welcome in our schools, but false gods are welcome in the schools. Our Nation has told God, he is not welcome in our Government meeting and buildings, but false gods are welcome in our Government meeting and buildings. Our Nation has surrender moral values for the death of the unborn, evolution, teaching 12 year old in school how to have sex, etc… This vote on gay marriage / gay rights is just another step away from God as a Nation, it is the not cause of the fall, but a result of a Nation that once was bless by God over the years turning is back on God.
Romans chapter 1, shows us of a progressive sin, that is left uncheck involves into deeper sinful actions. What comes next? What behavior accordance to Romans 1 follows?
“28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, 30 backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; 32 who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.”
We see more unrighteous actions follows after a person / nation has turn their back on God. These action listed are seen daily in our TV shows, Music, Movies, Books, video games and yes in our Political and Spiritual Leaders. The death that is mention is a spiritual death not physical death. No one, who is gay, should be put to death because they are gay. That punishment that was found in the Jewish Law for the Jewish People, Christ onto himself at the cross, so that people who are gay can find forgiveness.
Our nation has always struggle in balance what is moral right and people freedom to do what they think is right. We have won the battle over slavery, (which the battle started, when the Church said slavery is a sin) but when we try to stop alcohol drinking , we failed. But as we look at Romans 1, we see our Nation has embrace the ideas that Paul has warned the Roman Church about, while embracing these ideas, our Nation has turn against God’s People. Gay rights is just the next step, which result, will be in more attacks on the Christian and our Freedoms. As we stand up and say no to gay rights, more people will be demand the Government to find a way to stop us. Our no, is not based on hate, bigotry, we are not trying to outlaw people from being gay, we believe people have the right to choice, our desire is to stand up for our nation past, and to stop the next step found in Roman 1 from happen to our nation.
I know many here will disagree with me, but as I sit back and look to what has been happen to our nation over the years. There is an connection between Romans 1, our nation embrace the ideas that Paul warns us about and the assault on the Christian Church.
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Romans 13 was also written by Paul. It was written at a time when the Roman Empire was fully in charge with its Emperor (and god) at the head of government. It’s strange to me to read the angst of some Christians when speaking about our nation in light of Paul’s admonition to believers to be under the authority of a thorougly pagan government.
For those who may not read this part of Romans too often (from NIV):
13 Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. 4 For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.
6 This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. 7 Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
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Pastor Roy, The last few days have been very disturbing for many American Christians. Romans 1 is a key chapter to help understand what is happening. Phos posted a good analysis a few months back. I am probably more pessimistic about America than anyone else on this blog. Nevertheless, I am encouraged when some of our local young people stand for Christian truth in spite of great persecution.
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CB, We read chapter 13 as well. We still pay our taxes even if we disagree with much of what the government is doing. With one or two exceptions all of us accepted Roe v Wade without violent protest even when we thought it was wrongly decided and it resulted in the deaths of millions of babies. American Christians will continue to be good citizens.
However, I am encouraging all with young children to look hard for a way out. When a pro-gay marriage commercial came on Fox News last night, my wife issued a fire and brimstone alert.
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CB,
True. But you left out some relevant scripture. Like Acts 5:29
29 Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings!
When man’s rulers are in conflict with God’s teaching, who should we Christians obey? God of course.
And when you look at abortion, gay marriage, and other issues that are clearly in conflict with God’s word, the Christian has a duty to obey God over man. The Bible is quite clear on this, as well as being quite clear in showing that these 2 issues especially are in conflict with God’s teachings, despite what “Cesaer” has to say.
Give unto Cesaer what’s his, but when Cesaer conflicts with God, that goes out the window. Man’s laws are ever changing, God’s are not.
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CB, you problem is Christian are to obey the Government until it becomes evil and start to promote sin.
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Paul was right that governments for all their faults are instituted in authority by God and should be assiduously obeyed. When any group claims God’s Law is on its side, anarchy ensues. Only when serious issues of conscience are involved, and one is prepared to do jail time or be a martyr, may civil and criminal law be disobeyed.
Paul, also. understood that one may be a devout Christian while living in a pagan culture. We ought to work hard within the law in favor of our issues, though, if defeated, we need to be charitable toward opponents and all the more devout in our faith.
Christians by definition ought not to be fanatical.
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Sails,
I believe we have found a point of agreement.
AJ
Are you posing Acts as a precursor to civil disobedience?
Roy,
The government of the Empire of Rome at its height was not known for its justice and fairness. It was a rapacious conquering behomoth that sought to crush any opposition to it, internal or external. That is the context in which Paul, a Roman citizen wrote.
Ricky
Yes, most Christians have adhered to Romans 13. My point here is in part about the notion of the US as a “Christian nation” turning away and the angst I often read from conservative Christians. When compared to the nation in which Paul lived, the argumentation about the US has never really made that much sense to me — even back in the day when I was a devout evangelical (in fact part of the reason I left evangelicalism was because of teaching that seemed to skew the Bible toward American style democracy and capitalism).
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The Framers understood that a republic requires virtuous citizens and even Jefferson claimed that virtue comes primarily from religion; however, the Constitution does not favor any particular religion, nor does it necessarily in itself favor religion.
America’s greatness historically derives paradoxically from a combination of a strongly religious people and a certain pluralism of its people. Pluralism, though distasteful to some of those with strong principles, is necessary in modern Western society.
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CB, I agree with you that conservative American churches have committed the sin of combining Christian and American values. This has played out in a number of ways, including but not limited to the following: 1. Churches have adopted unbiblical congregational polity; 2. Churches have taught that American political and economic positions are Christian positions; and
3. American pastors, like pastors in most countries, have supported our country’s foreign policy.
Let me try to explain the angst that Romans 13 does not help to quell:
1. Older American Christians have historically been proud of their country. They believed the US government and its people were generally a force for good in the world. They thought the US was a good model for other countries. This is all changing very quickly. Many Americans are seeing belatedly that our popular culture is a horrible influence on the world with its emphasis on materialism, drunkenness, drug use and sexual immorality. They would hate to see other countries copy many of our new laws.
2. While we have gone overboard and said we are a Christian nation, we don’t believe the US is in any way a substitute for Israel as God’s chosen people. However, we have believed that God has blessed America because it generally tried to follow Him. At this point we see America in open rebellion against God and we (my wife being an extreme example) fear the consequences of such rebellion.
3. We fear for our grandchildren. The pro-homosexual propaganda in our high schools and colleges is unbelievable and growing. Some of us understand that the sexual orientation of many 13-23 year olds is fluid. The line between teaching tolerance and promoting homosexuality is a blurry one.
So American Christians are unhappy, much like Jeremiah in Lamentations, and they do not find comfort in the fact that the Roman Empire of Paul’s day was in some ways worse than the current US. Being an idealist, I always look for a better option. Our church is setting records in sending young couples overseas as missionaries. We are excited to hear reports of their work. I am happy that their children are not growing up in the US.
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in CB world the GOvernment would be ok to silence the Christian Church.
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CB, I’m not sure I follow you (although it looks like others do!). Are you saying that Romans 13 prohibits expressions of dissatisfaction (“angst”) with one’s government, or the degree of Christian angst is beyond the prescribed limit of Romans 13, or that Christians are in some kind of angst-state rebellion in violation of Romans 13, or some other phenomenon?
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Sails, I am interested in your comments on pluralism. I agree that the US, because of its history and demographics, is necessarily pluralistic. However, I was thinking about Poland and Chile. Both are Western societies. Yet Poland is not pluralistic at all. Chile has a typical Latin American European/mestizo division, but is religiously homogeneous.
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what is happen today is just another step towards God’s Wrath for the United States as we reject His standard for the enemy of GOd’s Standard
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Ricky, I have traveled a fair amount in Poland. It is a fairly impressive country with a still strong Roman Catholic Church,. John Paul II had an enormous influence. Those supporting social reform including homosexual behavior and abortion are at best enjoying marginal success. Lech Walesa recently remarked that the few gay legislators should sit at the back or behind a wall. He was vilified by the Left but many people were delighted with him.
As much as I like Poland, I wouldn’t want to live there. The climate is dismal, the language impossible, and there is a certain provinciality of the culture. Economically, the entrepreneurial spirit is lacking and the government still meddles badly against busines. Should you seriously be interested in moving there, I would recommend the Krakow area.
I know little about Chile.
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Thanks for the tips on Poland. Dad had a good experience there 20 years ago. They have a dish that is just like our chicken fried steak and he got an ice cream cone for a dime.
The reports I get from Chile is that physically it is a lot like California. There is very little welfare state, and their Social Security system is not a Ponzi scheme. It is overwhelmingly Catholic and culturally conservative.
I have concluded that if you are going to emigrate, go to a country that doesn’t speak English. It will be influenced less by our toxic popular culture.
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Ricky that makes sense to me, thank you for explaining it. I have to note that Chile has universal health care and same sex marriage.
Solar — My question has more to do with trying to understand conservative Christian angst vis-a-vis their view of the American government not being godly (note that I don’t think any government has been inherently godly — but that’s another topic) and hence turning from God. Ricky explained well.
Roy, In my ideal world freedom of expression , association, assembly, thought, conscience and belief would be respected, protected and promoted. Christian churches would exist as they do now, free to preach what they perceive to be God’s word. At the same time, people who are non-believers would also have rights that are not dependent on the religous beliefs of one sector of society. My ideal world is pluralistic and does incorporate Sail’s point on religion and its functions in society — but wouldn’t allow one interpretation of a religion to dominate the others via legislation that does not allow for minority views. You make assumptions based on premises that are simply false and in doing so make false accusations and statements about what I do believe. It is offensive.
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