CovenantNews.com

A National Inventory

Entropy In The Republic.
Al Cronkrite / The Covenant News:
It is not difficult to understand why our nation is becoming more lawless. The behavior of our leaders provides everyone an excellent example. All of our national elected officials take an oath to support and obey the Constitution but most of them not only regularly disobey their oath but are hopelessly ignorant of its mandates. When oaths and the law mean nothing to leaders, it is easy to understand why our system of justice is failing.

The American Covenant

George Grant / King’s Meadow:
On April 26, 1607, the ships Godspeed, Susan Constant, and Discovery first landed on the Cape Henry shores (now known as Virginia Beach). The expedition of English colonists, including Captain John Smith, was determined to establish the first permanent English settlement in America. During their first three days in the New World however, the settlers struggled mightily with sickness and were attacked by the Native Americans living in the area. There was talk of simply returning to England. On April 29, Reverend Robert Hunt decided that their mistake was in not covenanting, praying over, and dedicating the land and their future journey to God first.

Prayer

Rev. R.J. Rushdoony / The Chalcedon Foundation:
David prayed, in the crisis of his life, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me” (Ps. 51:10). Will it take a similar horror and grief to make us pray the same way, and mean it? We need changing continually, but just as continuously we want God to change, not us.

Replica of Noah's Ark Opens to Visitors

The Associated Press:
The massive central door in the side of Noah's Ark was thrown open Saturday — you could say it was the first time in 4,000 years — drawing a crowd of curious pilgrims and townsfolk to behold the wonder. Of course, it's only a replica of the biblical Ark, built by Dutch creationist Johan Huibers as a testament to his faith in the literal truth of the Bible. Reckoning by the old biblical measurements, Johan's fully functional ark is 150 cubits long, 30 cubits high and 20 cubits wide. That's two-thirds the length of a football field and as high as a three-story house.

The Advancing Christian Reconstruction

Mark R. Rushdoony / The American View:
I would like to talk this morning about what Christian Reconstruction is. When people ask me for an explanation of what Christian Reconstruction is, I usually give them the short answer. I say, Our culture has problems because it is based on the sinful will of men. Rebellion against God never works, so these problems will progress to a systemic failure. We believe in rebuilding our culture on the Word of God, starting with individuals and progressing outwardly to families, groups, institutions, communities, and beyond.

Ride That Horse!

David Alan Black / Dave Black Online:
There’s a difference between discussing Christianity and putting it into practice. A huge difference. God saved us not just to think about what we should do but to do those good works which He foreordained (Eph. 2:10). The problem is that we so easily fail to do simply because we are afraid. We are afraid that we might do something that is unacceptable to a weaker brother or sister. We are afraid that we might have no time to do everything we ought to do. We are afraid that we might do something and make a mistake. This is a day when we are so incredibly busy discussing and disagreeing and interpreting and debating that we never do anything for the kingdom.

Arrest Made in Bomb at Texas Clinic

Kelley Shannon / The Associated Press:
A 27-year-old man has been arrested in connection with a makeshift bomb that was found outside a clinic where abortions are performed, authorities said Friday. Paul Ross Evans has been charged with use of weapons of mass destruction, manufacture of explosive material and violating freedom of access to clinic entrances, according to a statement issued by the Austin Police Department. The bomb contained an explosive powder and two pounds of nails, said David Carter, assistant police chief. It wasn't revealed how Evans was identified as a suspect, although authorities said they were using tapes from surveillance cameras to try to solve the case.

John Lofton Interviews Kate Michelman

Pro-Life vs. Pro-Death, John Lofton vs. Kate Michelman.
The American View:
I never thought Michelman’s publicist would set this interview up and I certainly never thought it would last almost an hour if I got such an interview. But, if you listen closely at the beginning, it appears that this interview was not set up with us, “The American View.” You’ll hear Michelman (former president of NARAL) say it’s great to be with us folks at “Air America” which is, of course, the far-Left radio network one of whose radio hosts is comic Al Franken. In any event, I’ve often chuckled as I wondered if, after this interview, some one at “Air America” got an angry call from Michelman with her asking how “Air America” could hire a nut like me? Oh, well…click here and listen. And pray, please, for Michelman’s salvation and repentance. She has a lot of innocent blood on her hands.

On The Partial Birth Abortion Ruling

Chuck Baldwin / The Covenant News:
In responding to the euphoria of many pro-life groups' claiming that the PBA decision has begun the legal process of overturning Roe, the Mobile Press-Register said, "The court has done no such thing; and in the majority opinion, justices pointed out that the ban doesn't violate a woman's right to terminate her pregnancy." The Press-Register got it exactly right.

Utah Allows Guns on College Campuses

Brock Vergakis / The Associated Press:
After the massacre at Virginia Tech that left 33 dead, some have suggested that the carnage might have been lower if a student or professor with a gun had stepped in. As states and colleges across the country review their gun policies in light of the tragedy, many in Utah are proud to have the nation's only state law that expressly allows the carrying of concealed weapons at public colleges.

Congressional Push for Gun Control Without A Vote!

McCarthy bill would treat gun owners worse than terrorists
Gun Owners of America:
Senator Chuck Schumer has been, in past years, the Senate sponsor of the McCarthy bill (HR 297). And the recent murders at Virginia Tech have given Senator Schumer the pretext he has been looking for. Appearing on the Bill O'Reilly show earlier this week, Schumer did his best to make a reasonable-sounding pitch for more gun control. In the O'Reilly interview, Schumer showed his hand when he revealed the strategy for this bill. Because it could become such a hot potato -- thanks to your efforts -- Senator Schumer is pushing to get this bill passed by Unanimous Consent in the Senate, which basically means that the bill would get passed WITHOUT A VOTE.

HR 297
[T]his bill would allow the FBI to obtain massive amounts of information -- information which dwarfs any records obtained from warrantless searches (or wiretaps) that have been conducted by the Bush Administration on known or suspected terrorists operating in the country. In fact, HR 297 would allow the FBI to get this information on honest Americans (like you) even though the required data is much more private and personal than any information obtained thus far by the Bush administration on terrorists.

Critiquing Mass Murder After The Fact

Jim R. Schwiesow / The Covenant News:
The Virginia Tech massacre continues to fill the airwaves as law enforcement commanders boast of their progress in an investigation of the events after the fact. Other than to confirm the fact that a sociopath had single-handedly and cold-bloodedly executed thirty-two people and shot and wounded fifteen more over a time span of two and one-half hours, and that the slaughter took place under their very noses what else needs to be said.

Moral Failure in American Generals

Thomas E. Ricks / The Washington Post:
An active-duty Army officer is publishing a blistering attack on U.S. generals, saying they have botched the war in Iraq and misled Congress about the situation there. "America's generals have repeated the mistakes of Vietnam in Iraq," charges Lt. Col. Paul Yingling, an Iraq veteran who is deputy commander of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment. "The intellectual and moral failures . . . constitute a crisis in American generals." Yingling's comments are especially striking because his unit's performance in securing the northwestern Iraqi city of Tall Afar was cited by President Bush in a March 2006 speech and provided the model for the new security plan underway in Baghdad. He also holds a high profile for a lieutenant colonel: He attended the Army's elite School for Advanced Military Studies and has written for one of the Army's top professional journals, Military Review.

A Failure in Generalship
By Lt. Col. Paul Yingling / Armed Forces Journal
For the second time in a generation, the United States faces the prospect of defeat at the hands of an insurgency. In April 1975, the U.S. fled the Republic of Vietnam, abandoning our allies to their fate at the hands of North Vietnamese communists. In 2007, Iraq's grave and deteriorating condition offers diminishing hope for an American victory and portends risk of an even wider and more destructive regional war.

These debacles are not attributable to individual failures, but rather to a crisis in an entire institution: America's general officer corps. America's generals have failed to prepare our armed forces for war and advise civilian authorities on the application of force to achieve the aims of policy. The argument that follows consists of three elements. First, generals have a responsibility to society to provide policymakers with a correct estimate of strategic probabilities. Second, America's generals in Vietnam and Iraq failed to perform this responsibility. Third, remedying the crisis in American generalship requires the intervention of Congress.

Christians In 'Hate Crimes' Bull's-Eye

Bob Unruh / WorldNetDaily.com:
A fast-tracked congressional plan to add special protections for homosexuals to federal law would turn "thoughts, feelings, and beliefs" into criminal offenses and put Christians in the bull's-eye, according to opponents. "H.R. 1592 is a discriminatory measure that criminalizes thoughts, feelings, and beliefs [and] has the potential of interfering with religious liberty and freedom of speech," according to a white paper submitted by Glen Lavy, of the Alliance Defense Fund.

Supreme Court Split 7-2 - Pro-Abortion Majority

Christian Gallery Editorial:
Why Court's Confusing Partial Birth Abortion Decision Can Kill Babies By the Millions - A brief added to the partial birth abortion decision by Justices Thomas and Scalia helps us see the true meaning of the Court's decision. If you will study the brief added by those two Justices, it will become obvious that instead of the recent decision showing a 5-4 Supreme Court split in favor of overturning legalized abortion, the recent ruling actually reveals that the Supreme Court as presently constituted is split 7-2, with the majority composed of Supreme Court Justices who have no intention whatsoever of overturning Roe v. Wade. Why is Justices Scalia and Thomas's brief so revealing, so significant? Listen to what Justice Thomas wrote, with Scalia agreeing, "I write separately to reiterate my view that the Court's abortion jurisprudence, including Casey and Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973) has no basis in the Constitution."

N.H. Lawmakers Approve 'Unions'

Beverley Wang / The Associated Press:
New Hampshire lawmakers voted Thursday to authorize civil unions and sent the measure to Gov. John Lynch, who announced last week that he would sign it. Sponsors of the civil unions bill called it a door to marriage in all aspects but name. Three other states already offer civil unions for gay couples: New Jersey, Connecticut and Vermont. Neighboring Massachusetts in 2004 became the only state to allow sodomite "marriage". Washington, Maine, California, New York and Washington D.C., recognize domestic partnerships. New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer this week pledged to introduce sodomite "marriage" legislation in the next few weeks.

Where Are The Shepherds?

Coach Dave Daubenmire / NewsWithViews.com:
For centuries pastors have been known as “shepherds of the soul.” They have been given the awesome responsibility to guide the souls of their flock unto the safety of heaven. That is what pastors do; protect their sheep against ravenous wolves, a spiritual guide if you will, to direct their flock to heaven. Sadly, many have lost their purpose. Today much of what we hear from the pulpits of America is nothing more than “Humanism Lite.”

Q&A on Christian Reconstruction, Part 2

Chris Ortiz / Chalcedon Blog:
Depending on how one might answer that first question: Is it at all possible to determine how many Reconstructionists there are?

Heretics Attack Religion in Healthcare

Maggie Fox / Reuters:
A coalition of religious leaders took on the Catholic Church, the U.S. Supreme Court and the Bush administration on Tuesday with a plea to take religion out of health care in the United States. They said last week's Supreme Court decision outlawing a certain type of abortion demonstrated that religious belief was interfering with personal rights and the U.S. health care system in general. The group, calling itself the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, said it planned to submit its proposals to other church groups and lobby Congress and state legislators. The group wrote up a series of guidelines and asked for all health care providers to implement them. They include allowing doctors to use best medical practices, providing comprehensive counseling on sexual or reproductive health and an agreement to honor advance directives -- including "do not resuscitate" orders.

'Antichrist' to preach in Guatemala

Juan Carlos Llorca / The Associated Press:
He calls himself the Antichrist, wears the number 666 tattooed on his arm and claims a following of 2 million people. And Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda is coming to Guatemala whether it wants him or not. The Central American country has banned the leader of the Florida-based Growing in Grace church, arguing he is a security risk because he provokes conflict with Roman Catholics and evangelicals. But Miranda still plans to fly in on a private jet Saturday to celebrate his 61st birthday and meet with thousands of followers from around the world. "It has been predestined and angels will make it happen. He is, after all, God himself," said Axel Poessy, Miranda's media director.

Security and Liberty

Rep. Ron Paul / Texas Straight Talk:
The senseless and horrific killings last week on the campus of Virginia Tech University reinforced an uneasy feeling many Americans experienced after September 11th: namely, that government cannot protect us. No matter how many laws we pass, no matter how many police or federal agents we put on the streets, a determined individual or group still can cause great harm. Perhaps the only good that can come from these terrible killings is a reinforced understanding that we as individuals are responsible for our safety and the safety of our families.

John MacArthur's Prophetic Confusion

Gary DeMar / American Vision:
I just received a book notice from Moody Press for a new commentary on Revelation by John MacArthur with the title Because the Time is Near. For years, I have been dealing with issues related to the last days. I got involved in this topic because Christians were using last-days theology as a way to explain the state of the world and why Christians can’t do anything to reverse present trends. MacArthur is representative of this view when he writes, “‘Reclaiming’ the culture is a pointless, futile exercise.”

Q&A on Christian Reconstruction, Part I

Chris Ortiz / Chalcedon Blog:
Would it be correct to describe Reconstructionism as a theological position that an organisation, for example, to some extent can apply in their work? Or would a more adequate description define Reconstructionism as a movement with certain founders, organizations, and important books?

Church Switchers Are Restless?

Paul Proctor / NewsWithViews.com:
In my last two columns, the first of which was titled, "Church Switchers, Change Agents & Agenda-Driven Surveys," I addressed the curious results of a much-publicized survey from the Southern Baptist Convention's LifeWay Christian Resources - a study that allegedly sought answers as to why people are fleeing their churches in such large number today. Well, now USA Today has jumped on the church-switchers survey bandwagon citing reasons and percentages from the same LifeWay study in an article titled: "Dissatisfaction, yearning make churchgoers switch," surmising that, "the faithful are restless."

My Speech In Boise, Idaho

Chuck Baldwin / Chuck Baldwin Live:
Last week, I was privileged to speak before the National Committee Meeting of the Constitution Party assembled in Boise, Idaho. After a two-day whirlwind speaking tour in Utah earlier in the week, I delivered this address to the assemblage in Boise. This is an edited version of that Idaho speech. Christians tell me constantly, "Chuck, we must elect a Christian President." And it seems that all they look for and all they expect from their civil magistrates is that he or she make public profession of Christianity. But most every politician professes to be a Christian--at least every two years, or in the case of a presidential candidate, every four years.

The Federal Massacre at Waco

Glenn Jacobs / LewRockwell.com:
April 19 marked the 14-year anniversary of the BATF-FBI massacre of the Branch Davidians at Waco, Texas. Some might say that the use of the word “massacre” is harsh, instead opting to call it a “tragedy.” After close examination of the events of April 19, 1993, however, any reasonable person must conclude that massacre is the appropriate term. The tragedy is that all too many Americans failed to reach this conclusion when the news about Waco broke and that the lessons of Waco still go unrecognized by so many.

Toyota Tops GM in Sales for First Time

Tom Ramstack / The Washington Times:
Toyota Motor Corp. is on course to overtake General Motors Corp. as the world's biggest automaker after beating the U.S. company in quarterly sales for the first time. Toyota sold 2.348 million vehicles worldwide between January and March, surpassing the 2.26 million vehicles GM said it sold in the same period, Toyota said yesterday. The sales figures underscore GM's struggle to hold on to its 76-year reign as the world's top automaker.

Foley Uses GOP Campaign Cash to Pay Lawyers

Brian Skoloff / The Associated Press:
Former U.S. Representative Mark Foley is using left over campaign contributions to defend himself against potential criminal charges in connection with the Internet teen sex scandal that led to his resignation. According to recent filings with the Federal Election Commission, Foley spent $206 thousand in campaign cash on attorneys from November to January. That left about $1.7 million in the Florida Republican's campaign account on March 31, even after he returned more than $110,000 from donors. Foley's criminal defense lawyer in West Palm Beach, David Roth, declined comment Thursday. A telephone message left with the Washington, D.C.-based law firm of Zuckerman Spaeder LLP, which received all the legal payments from Foley's campaign account, was not immediately returned.

Exit Strategy

Hon. Ron Paul of Texas / House.Gov/Paul:
We Just Marched In (So We Can Just March Out)
All the reasons given to justify a preemptive strike against Iraq were wrong. Congress and the American people were misled. Support for the war came from various special interests that had agitated for an invasion of Iraq since 1998. The Iraq Liberation Act, passed by Congress and signed into law by President Clinton, stated that getting rid of Saddam Hussein was official U.S. policy. This policy was carried out in 2003.

The War Goes Ever On

Paul Craig Roberts / VDARE.com:
Is the Iraq war to become a permanent feature? The war persists despite the opposition of a majority of Americans and Iraqis. The war persists despite warnings from US generals that the stress is breaking the US Army. The war persists despite its enormous cost in red ink and dependence on foreign loans. The war persists despite its total failure. The war persists despite the known fact that it was based on Bush administration lies and deception.

Bush Allows Witchcraft Symbols in Military

Julia Duin / The Washington Times:
The Bush administration has agreed to allow Wiccan pentacles in military cemeteries in a court settlement announced yesterday by Americans United for Separation of Church and State. The settlement was filed with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin to settle a suit filed in November against the Department of Veterans Affairs on behalf of several families of Wiccan soldiers and Circle Sanctuary, a 200-acre Wiccan nature center 30 miles west of Madison, Wis. Until now, the U.S. government had refused to issue grave markers, headstones or memorial plaques with the Wiccan symbol.

Worker Bees Take Off

Deborah Zabarenko / Reuters:
Go to work, come home. Go to work -- and vanish without a trace. Billions of bees have done just that, leaving the crop fields they are supposed to pollinate, and scientists are mystified about why. The phenomenon was noticed late last year in the United States, where honeybees are used to pollinate $15 billion worth of fruits, nuts and other crops annually. Since about one-third of the U.S. diet depends on pollination and most of that is performed by honeybees, this constitutes a serious problem, says Jeff Pettis of the U.S. Agricultural Research Service. "They're the heavy lifters of agriculture," Mr. Pettis said of honeybees. "And the reason they are is they're so mobile, and we can rear them in large numbers and move them to a crop when it's blooming." The problem has prompted a congressional hearing, a report by the National Research Council and a National Pollinator Week set for June 24 to 30 in Washington, but so far there's no clear idea of what is causing it.

Whose Morality?

Gary DeMar / American Vision:
In a 5–4 judicial squeaker, the Supreme Court ruled that a ban on partial birth abortions is constitutional. The pro-abortionists are hysterical. What’s instructive is how the pro-abortion position is being argued. Maureen Downing, writing the lead editorial in the April 20, 2007 issue of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (A10), is a good example of purposeful obfuscation. She begins by claiming that the “Supreme Court violated its own long held position that the court’s ‘obligation is to define the liberty of all, not to mandate our own moral code.’” Did you notice the words “liberty for all”? Abortionists believe the “thing” growing in “its” mother’s womb is akin to a tumor that can be excised from her body like a cyst is removed from an ovary. Pro-lifers believe that what’s growing in his mother’s womb is a person who deserves liberty and continued life.
more Pro-Life News headlines...

Nothing is Impossible

Chris Ortiz / Chalcedon Blog:
If you've not heard about Team Hoyt, then take a few minutes to glean just how blessed you are. These guys teach us all that we are without excuse if we do not exploit the full capacity of our God-given gifts, abilities, and resources.

Idol Worship-Offerings Littering U.S. Volcano

The Associated Press:
Rangers are starting a program to stop people from leaving religious offerings at the summit of Mount Kilauea -- including food they say attracts rats and cockroaches. Visitors leave 45 pounds of offerings at Halemaumau Crater each week, including flowers, bottles, money, incense, candles and crystals, park rangers say. But food offerings are the most problematic. One ranger recently found a whole, cooked piglet replete with a papaya, orange and apple in a cardboard box. The rotting offerings pose a hazard to the endangered nene goose, the state bird, the park service said. Some Hawaiians believe lava is the physical representation of the fire goddess Pele, making the volcano summit sacred.

Wash. Gov. a Sodomite Sympathizer

The Associated Press:
Gov. Christine Gregoire signed into law Saturday a measure to create domestic partnerships, giving homosexual couples some of the same rights that come with marriage. The law creates a domestic partnership registry and provides enhanced rights for same-sex couples, including hospital visitation rights, the ability to authorize autopsies and organ donations and inheritance rights when there is no will.

Bush's Grand Illusion: Immigration Enforcement

Michael Cutler / NewsWithViews.com:
The number of alien absconders has been rising rapidly, in part, because our nation lacks the ability to stop the massive influx of illegal aliens. The past couple of years, the administration has finally decided that they need to at the least, provide an illusion of competence and commitment to enforcing the immigration laws. I note that the administration is attempting to provide an illusion of enforcement because the administration has steadfastly refused to hire an adequate number of special agents for ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and an adequate number of Border Patrol agents.

New Rules Proposed for Religious Workers

Stephen Dinan / The Washington Times:
Federal immigration officials, trying to get a handle on a years-old problem of rampant fraud among religious worker visa applications, proposed new rules yesterday that would require the government to visit churches or other religious groups to make sure they really exist. A study by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has shown one in every three applications for a religious worker visa is fraudulent, and a Government Accountability Office report said there's been at least "one case where law enforcement had identified an applicant as a suspected terrorist."

Gun-Free Zones to Gun-Crime-Free Zones

Dr. Patrick Jonston / NewsWithViews.com:
I am always amazed by the enthusiastic attempts of liberals to outlaw guns in the hands of the innocent victims and law-abiding citizens whenever a murderer shoots people. Op-Ed pieces and Hollywood liberals are already claiming that the NRA and the prevalence of guns are one of the main reasons behind the murder of 32 students and professors at Virginia Tech. On the contrary, the gun violence makes me even more dedicated to carrying my concealed weapon wherever I go and encouraging other good citizens to do the same!

Congressmen Want Gun Control Laws

Ben Feller / The Associated Press:
Grappling with the deadliest shooting spree in U.S. history, lawmakers said Sunday they want to eliminate a gap between state and federal laws that can allow someone with a history of mental illness to buy guns. Members of Congress have shown little political appetite, however, for attempting to expand federal gun control in response to the massacre at Virginia Tech. Two New York Democrats, Sen. Charles Schumer, and Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, announced legislation Sunday that would require states to upgrade their reporting of mental health records to the federal database. The bill would provide new money to states to help them automate their records, but also apply financial penalties on states that do not comply.

Yeltsin Dies at 76

Jim Heintz / The Associated Press:
Former President Boris Yeltsin, who engineered the final collapse of the Soviet Union and pushed Russia to embrace democracy and a market economy, has died, a Kremlin official said Monday. He was 76. Kremlin spokesman Alexander Smirnov confirmed Yeltsin's death, but gave no cause or further information. The Interfax news agency cited an unidentified medical source as saying he had died of heart failure.

The First Protestants - April 19, 1526

George Grant / King’s Meadow:
On this day in 1526, the citizens of Strasburg, Nuremburg, Ulm, and nine other cities with the support of a few electors and princes, protested an earlier decree of the Diet of Worms. They petitioned the emperor for an exemption to the "uniformity of religion act" that the assembly of the imperial German principalities, kingdoms, and electorates had imposed on all the member states--and then reaffirmed several years later in Speyer. These progressive advocates of reform were thus first given the name "Protestants."

God and Our Peace

Rev. R.J. Rushdoony / The Chalcedon Foundation:
The Puritans were a remarkable people who accomplished far more than most men ever have because they knew what they believed and were totally dedicated. They numbered perhaps four percent of the English people when they took over the country; other men lacked their determination. One Puritan pastor, Richard Rogers of Wethersfield in Essex, was told by “a gentleman,” “Mr. Rogers, I like you and your company very well, only you are too precise.” Rogers replied, “Oh sir, I serve a precise God.” For this reason, God’s every Word had to be heeded and obeyed. Christopher Love stated it this way: “If you break God’s law, God will break your peace.”

'Gun Control' Leaves Only the Murderer With Guns

The American View Radio:
“The American View” discusses the mass murders at Virginia Tech and how, among other things, there might have been fewer murders had the school allowed students, faculty, school employees to arm themselves on campus which, alas, was prohibited. This program also features an interview with former Texas State Legislator Suzanna Gratia Hupp who was in Luby’s Cafeteria (10/16/91) in Killeen, Texas, when George Hennard drove his truck into this eatery, opened fire with his Glock 17/RugerP89, and murdered 23 people including Suzanna’s Mom and Dad. Suzanna might have been able to prevent many of these murders if she had her gun with her in her purse but a Texas “gun control” law forbid carrying a concealed weapon.

Seeing The Forest While Looking At The Trees

Bret McAtee / The Backwater Report:
In the past week we have seen three different events on the National scale that have driven a great deal of conversation in this country. First there was the Don Imus imbroglio. Second there was the Duke Lacrosse players vindication. Third there was the mass murder at Virginia Tech University. When looking at these three recent events the question arises as to whether or not they have anything in common. Is there any ideological mortar that serves to give some unitary meaning to these diverse current events? I believe there is.

House Gives City a Seat in Congress!

The Washington Post is reporting that the House approved congressional voting rights for the District of Columbia, granting the city a vote for the first time in the nation's history. Thumbing their nose at the People as they knowingly broke their sworn oath, in a 241-177 vote, the rogue Congress approved the bill despite the fact the Constitution says that the "House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States."

The Constitution of the United States: Article. I. Section. 2.
"The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature."

Taxation Is Robbery

Frank Chodorov / LewRockwell.com:
The Encyclopaedia Britannica defines taxation as "that part of the revenues of a state which is obtained by the compulsory dues and charges upon its subjects." That is about as concise and accurate as a definition can be; it leaves no room for argument as to what taxation is. In that statement of fact the word "compulsory" looms large, simply because of its ethical content. The quick reaction is to question the "right" of the state to this use of power. What sanction, in morals, does the state adduce for the taking of property? Is its exercise of sovereignty sufficient unto itself?

End The War Stop The Money Flow

Ed Henry / Ether Zone:
Most Americans may not realize how much money they’re loaning to George W. Bush so he can expand his military empire, send more troops to Iraq, build more cluster bombs, carry on more invasions, and bring more misery to the world. These loans to the government are made by 401(k) and IRA managers, insurance companies, plus retirement and investment houses that truly believe they are doing something good when they invest some of their member’s money in treasuries by buying what was once known as “the safest investment in the world,” U. S. Treasuries or federal bonds, bills, notes, and savings bonds. If the American people really wanted to put an end to the invasion and occupation of Iraq, they would stop supporting this crazy venture with their money.

The Party of Brownshirts

Paul Craig Roberts / VDARE.com:
Neoconservatives have turned the Republican Party into a Brownshirt Party. Look at the evidence. While real patriots flee the party, the remaining supporters cling to power by asserting dictatorial dominance for President Bush. The Republican Attorney General denies that the US Constitution provides habeas corpus protection to American citizens. Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney, Republican candidates for the 2008 presidential campaign, believe the president has the power to imprison US citizens indefinitely without warrants or trials. The "conservative" Federalist Society favors concentrating more power in the executive. Neoconservative ideologues claim the right to impose American hegemony over all others—especially over Muslims. All of these Republican tyrants and budding tyrants claim to be protecting liberty and democracy.

Ted Haggard Moves to Phoenix

Eric Gorski / The Associated Press:
The Rev. Ted Haggard moved Wednesday from his longtime home in Colorado Springs to Phoenix, where the disgraced minister will join the same church that helped fallen televangelist Jim Baker. Haggard, 50, resigned as president of the National Association of Evangelicals last year, after a former male prostitute alleged a three-year cash-for-sex relationship. The man also said he saw Haggard use methamphetamine. Haggard confessed to undisclosed "sexual immorality" and said he bought meth but never used it. Ted and Gayle Haggard have ties to Phoenix. The couple spent three weeks at secular treatment center in the area after the scandal broke. And the Pentecostal church they will attend, Phoenix First Assembly of God, is led by the Rev. Tommy Barnett, another member of Haggard's restoration team.

Archbishop Says Christians Misread Bible?

Tom Heneghan, Religion Editor, Reuters:
The spiritual leader of the world's 77 million Anglicans has said conservative Christians who cite the Bible to condemn homosexuality are misreading a key passage written by Saint Paul almost 2,000 years ago. Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, addressing theology students in Toronto, said an oft-quoted passage in Paul's Epistle to the Romans meant to warn Christians not to be self-righteous when they see others fall into sin. "Paul is making a primary point not about homosexuality but about the delusions of the supposedly law-abiding."

Romans 1:24-32
[24] Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
[25] Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
[26] For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
[27] And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
[28] And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
[29] Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
[30] Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
[31] Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
[32] Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

"If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them." Leviticus 20:13

"Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire." Jude 1:7

N.H. Gov to Sign Civil Unions Bill

KARE TV-11, MN:
Gov. John Lynch said Thursday he will sign legislation establishing civil unions for gay couples in New Hampshire. "I believe it is a matter of conscience, fairness and preventing discrimination," Lynch told The Associated Press. New Hampshire would become the fourth state to adopt civil unions, following Connecticut, Vermont and New Jersey. Massachusetts established gay marriage.

Cho Once Declared 'Mentally Ill'

Charles Montaldo / About.com:
Virginia Tech killer Cho Seung-Hui was reported for stalking two female students on campus and was once declared "mentally ill" and an "imminent danger to others" in a 2005 by a magistrate who ordered him to undergo a psychological evaluation. Cho was ordered temporarily detained by the magistrate but the following day a special justice approved outpatient treatment instead. According to the court order Cho was "mentally ill and in need of hospitalization, and presents an imminent danger to self or others as mental illness, or is seriously mentally ill as to be substantially unable to care for self, and is incapable of volunteering or unwilling to volunteer for treatment."

Winkler Guilty of Lesser Charge

Beth Rucker / The Associated Press:
A preacher's wife who claimed her husband abused her was convicted of voluntary manslaughter Thursday for killing him with a shotgun she said fired accidentally as she aimed at him. Mary Winkler showed no emotion as the verdict was read. Prosecutors had sought a first-degree murder conviction. If Winkler, 33, had been convicted of first- or second-degree murder, she would have gone to prison for at least 12 years and maybe for the rest of her life. She will be sentenced May 18, but is free on bond until then.

See Also:
Mary Winkler Guilty of Voluntary Manslaughter
Defense attorney says Winkler testimony made difference

I See Dead People

Paul deParrie / The Covenant News:
I recently read that on the day President Bush signed the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act into law, the sun let off an explosion unlike any recorded in history. Some prophetic-types even sent out pictures of the flaming corona saying it looked like a baby. Interpretations abounded. I see something in those flames, too. I see dead people. More precisely, I see dead babies - and I feel responsible.

The Evolutionary Blame Game

Eric Rauch / American Vision:
Now that the shock of the Virginia Tech massacre has turned to scapegoat-hunting and finger-pointing, we can be sure that we will be offered numerous villains and causes over the next several weeks by the media. Commissions will be commissioned; studies will be done; facts will be cited, arranged, disputed, and denied; and blame will be placed on everything from society to video games to gun-makers.

Black Monday & Gun Control

Bret McAtee / The Backwater Report:
Blacksburg, Virginia may likely refer to it forever as ‘Black Monday.’ On Black Monday God was blasphemed as thirty-two people created in His image were massacred. Thirty-two sons and daughters won’t ever again sit around their respective family tables breaking bread and fellowshipping with their loved ones. The dreams and aspirations of thirty-two young people have been extinguished. This can be nothing but a tragedy. Understandably, the faultfinders are at work pointing fingers already, but even if the fault is found and universally agreed upon it will do little to assuage the grief of the family and friends of those who have perished. Still, it is only normal for Americans as a people to ask who is responsible for this and to query whether or not anything can be done to prevent future Black Mondays.

A Virginia Tech Student Speaks

-- more than 7 months prior to the April 15, 2007 massacre.
Bradford B. Wiles / Gun Owners of America:
On Aug. 21, 2006 at about 9:20 a.m., my graduate-level class was evacuated from the Squires Student Center. We were interrupted in class and not informed of anything other than the following words: "You need to get out of the building." Upon exiting the classroom, we were met at the doors leading outside by two armor-clad policemen with fully automatic weapons, plus their side arms. Once outside, there were several more officers with either fully automatic rifles and pump shotguns, and policemen running down the street, pistols drawn. It was at this time that I realized that I had no viable means of protecting myself.

Federal Researchers Want to Scrap the Internet

Steve Watson / Infowars.net:
Researchers funded by the federal government want to shut down the internet and start over, citing the fact that at the moment there are loopholes in the system whereby users cannot be tracked and traced all the time. Time magazine has reported that several foundations and universities including Rutgers, Stanford, Princeton, Carnegie Mellon and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are pursuing individual projects, along with the Defense Department, in order to wipe out the current internet and replace it with a new network which will satisfy big business and government. ... Of course, Internet 2 would be greatly regulated and only "appropriate content" would be accepted by an FCC or government bureau.

Mormons Change Honor Code to Please Pervs

Soulforce - Sodomite Publication:
Three weeks after the Soulforce visited the campus to deliver a list of community concerns for the wellbeing of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students, officials at Brigham Young University have amended the section of the student honor code that deals with sexual orientation. The revised code states that "Brigham Young University will respond to homosexual behavior rather than to feelings or orientation and welcomes as full members of the university community all whose behavior meets university standards. . . . One's stated sexual orientation is not an Honor Code issue. However, the Honor Code requires all members of the university community to manifest a strict commitment to the law of chastity." The previous code identified "any behaviors that indicate homosexual conduct, including those not sexual in nature" as violations of the honor code.

3 Bible-Sellers Slain in Latest Attack

Benjamin Harvey / The Associated Press:
Assailants on Wednesday slit the throats of three employees of a publishing house that distributes Bibles, the latest in a series of attacks targeting Turkey's small Christian minority. The attack added to concerns in Europe about whether the predominantly Muslim country -- which is bidding for membership in the European Union -- can protect its religious minorities.

Partial-Birth Ban of No Effect

Jim Rudd / The Covenant News:
The Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act only applies to a "living fetus" -- and there is nothing in the Act to prevent abortionists from killing viable late term babies in the womb first! If the "fetus" is killed before being pulled out of the womb then the "Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act" is moot!

Supreme Court Upholds Partial Birth Abortion Ban

Mark Sherman / The Associated Press:
The Supreme Court upheld the nationwide ban on a controversial abortion procedure Wednesday. The 5-4 ruling said the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act that Congress passed and President Bush signed into law in 2003 does not violate a woman's constitutional right to an abortion.

Heretics Rally to Expand Hate-Crime Laws

Eric Pfeiffer / The Washington Times:
Clergy members from all 50 states gathered on Capitol Hill yesterday to support expanding hate-crime laws to protect homosexuals. ... "Unless they believe part of their religion is the practice of violence against others, they should not be affected by this bill," Sen. Gordon H. Smith, Oregon Republican told the Associated Press last week. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Massachusetts Democrat, co-sponsored the measure. The measure, similar to three versions that have failed in the past decade, calls for charging the Justice Department with investigating crimes potentially motivated by sexual orientation or gender identity as it does for crimes considered racially or religiously motivated.

Related:
Republican Party Gays Praise Introduction of Local
Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act in Senate
Log Cabin Republicans:
Washington, DC – Log Cabin Republicans praise the bi-partisan introduction of the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act (LLEHCPA) in the U.S. Senate. The legislation would allow local law enforcement agencies to access federal assistance in the investigation and prosecution of hate crimes. Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR) is the lead Republican co-sponsor. The House version was introduced last month. Similar legislation previously passed both the U.S. House and Senate by wide, bi-partisan margins.

Aftermath Of Tragedy

Gun Owners of America:
Our hearts and prayers truly go out to all of those affected by Cho Seung-Hui's evil actions. But not even senseless, brutal murder justifies taking away the God-given rights of the law-abiding. It is also worthwhile to note that Virginia Tech is -- because of deliberate policies set by its administration -- a victim disarmament zone, where even those with a state-issued concealed carry permit are denied their right of self-defense. In fact, pro-gun forces just last year tried to get the Virginia legislature to address the problem. The bill to allow permit holders to carry on state-supported college campuses died, due in no small part to rabid opposition from Virginia Tech itself.

The Grave Danger of 'Gun-Free Zones'

Charl van Wyk / WorldNetDaily.com:
The murder of innocent victims is a disgrace, and our condolences go out to those who have lost loved ones in the shooting rampage at Virginia Tech. More than one year before Monday's unprecedented shooting rampage at Virginia Tech, the state's General Assembly quashed a bill that would have given qualified college students and employees the right to carry handguns on campus. Could one legally armed citizen have made a difference at this tragic event?

Playing the Conspiracy Game

Gary DeMar / American Vision:
What happened at Virginia Tech was tragic. Seung-Hui Cho, the student who killed 32 people and then himself, left a long and “disturbing” note behind. There are a number of curious things that lead me to believe that Cho, a Korean, was a Manchurian Candidate. You might remember the movie that was released in 1962 and starred Frank Sinatra, Angela Landsbury, and Janet Leigh. It was based on a 1959 book of the same name written by Richard Condon. Sinatra pulled the movie from circulation after the assassination of JFK in 1963. An updated version was released in 2004.

Congressional Members Dole Out Big Bucks

The BLT, D.C:
Former Rep. Mark Foley's (R-Fla.) efforts to turn the page (so to speak) on the scandal that cost him his House seat wasn't cheap. Foley paid his lawyers from Zuckerman Spaeder $206,000 during the first three months of this year, according to an article today by Roll Call's Susan Davis. But Foley is far from alone among members of Congress in running up hefty legal bills. Davis, who gathered numbers from recently released Federal Election Commission filings, notes that former House Speaker Dennis Hastert dropped a cool $70,000 for advice from McKenna Long & Aldridge after facing a congressional ethics investigation into his handling of the Foley matter.

Our Survey Said!

Paul Proctor / NewsWithViews.com:
I specifically asked that all "church switchers" who emailed me, keep their replies to only two-sentences - which most did. Others simply could not contain their anguish and frustration - elaborating at length about how they were shunned and abused at their former churches and what their former pastors, teachers, leaders and brethren refused to hear or address regarding drastic changes implemented there. I went ahead and logged their responses anyway because I understand in a very personal way what many of them have lived through - having had their concerns ignored - their motives questioned - their reputations trashed and, in some cases, their long-standing memberships revoked, simply because they spoke up and questioned the pastor and/or their church's new agenda.

Police identify Cho Seung-Hui as the Shooter

Adam Geller / The Associated Press:
A Virginia Tech senior from South Korea killed at least 30 people locked inside a classroom building in the deadliest shooting rampage in modern U.S. history, the university and police said Tuesday. Ballistics tests also found that one of the guns used in that attack was also used in a shooting two hours earlier at a dorm that left two people dead, Virginia State Police said. Police identified the classroom shooter as Cho Seung-Hui, 23, a senior from South Korea who was in the English department at Virginia Tech and lived in a different dorm on campus. Cho committed suicide after the attacks, and there was no indication Tuesday of any possible motive.

VT Campus Minister Trying to Account for Students

Tamie Ross / The Christian Chronicle:
More than 60 campus ministry students of the Blacksburg, Va., church were among those on the Virginia Tech University campus when a gunman opened fire early Monday, killing an estimated 32 people and wounding at least 32 more, before he shot himself to death. Officials say it is the deadliest campus shooting rampage in history. At noon local time on Monday, Seth Terrell, campus minister at Blacksburg, spoke with The Christian Chronicle while monitoring e-mail and answering his cell phone. Terrell said he had heard directly from or at least received some information about half of his group. However, jammed phone lines meant that news was trickling in slowly.

The Danger of Blind Loyalty to Political Leaders

Jim R. Schwiesow / The Covenant News:
The following is a letter of a type that I often receive from the hard-line Bush supporters who believe that the president is anointed and should be beyond criticism in regard to his administrative policies: “Just remember, all authority is set in place by God. God obviously set President Bush in a higher place of authority than a lowly sheriff, so when you speak of stupidity you might start your search closer to home (The people who elected a loud mouth liberal)” The people who elected me to seven consecutive four-year terms in office, I think, would be rather amused at this characterization of me as a liberal. I would guess that it was just the dirtiest word that the writer could think of to describe one who has been critical of his hero, George Bush.

Hardwired Nonsense

Gary DeMar / American Vision:
Evolutionists claim that morality is a product of evolution. As we saw in yesterday’s article, Marc Hauser claims that “evolution hardwired us to know right from wrong.” How did evolution, which is not a person, place, or thing, know what is morally acceptable? Of course, “it” didn’t, since there is no such “thing” as “evolution.” For the sake of argument, let’s suppose, following Hauser, that evolution did hardwire moral clarity. Why is it morally acceptable for a lion to kill and eat a gazelle but it’s not morally acceptable for a human to kill and eat another human being?

Does Anybody Care About the Christian Arabs?

Bill Barnwell / LewRockwell.com:
This unfortunate group of people is caught in the middle of tensions between Jews and Muslims. While many Christian Arabs sympathize politically and culturally with their fellow Arabs over the Jewish people, they nonetheless are often targets of scorn from Arab Muslims. What is most shocking, however, is that Christians of Arab descent are non-issues in the minds of most Western Christians. Arab believers are most notably ignored by many Christians in America who believe fervently in the dispensational, pre-tribulational, premillennial view of Bible prophecy.

The Year Was 2081, And Everybody Was Equal

The American View:
The recent death of novelist Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. reminded me of the following excellent short story of his which appeared first in 1961 in “Fantasy And Science Fiction Magazine.” It is with great trepidation that I reprint this worrying that some legislator somewhere is, as I write this, introducing these ideas as a bill to become a “law.”

More Equal Than Others

Christopher Alexion / LewRockwell.com:
Author Kurt Vonnegut died last week at age 84, leaving his skeptical but stubbornly human stamp on American literature. Like most English majors, I studied Vonnegut in college, but it's for a short story one of my professors recommended outside of class that I actually remember him. Americans today regard Vonnegut's legacy as cynical – which it certainly was. Yet his story "Harrison Bergeron," written in 1961, reveals a more positive upshot of Vonnegut's doubt: his mistrust of the state.

Even The Innocent Have Rights

Dean Tong, MSc. / NewsWithViews.com:
There are lessons we can learn from the Duke University rape scandal. Make no mistake. The rape of any woman or sexual molestation of any child is a despicable and unconscionable criminal act and must be prosecuted to the fullest extent allowed by law. In fact, housing at the first tier in San Quentin is too good for adult rapists and child molesters. There’s a place far below the foundation of this Earth for the likes of people like that.

School Shooting: Another Government Black-Op?

Paul Joseph Watson & Steve Watson / Prison Planet:
Early details about the horrific school shooting at Virginia Tech strongly indicate that these events represent a Columbine-style black-op that will be exploited in the coming days to push for mass gun control and further turning our schools into prisons. Eyewitness Matt Kazee told the Alex Jones Show that it was a full two to three hours after the shootings began that loudspeakers installed around the campus were used to warn students to stay indoors and that a shooter was on the loose.

Virginia Quashed Handgun Bill

Art Moore / WorldNetDaily.com:
More than one year before today's unprecedented shooting rampage at Virginia Tech, the state's General Assembly quashed a bill that would have given qualified college students and employees the right to carry handguns on campus. At the time, Virginia Tech spokesman Larry Hincker said he was happy to hear of the bill's defeat, according to the Roanoke Times.

Witness Survives by Pretending to Be Dead

CNN.com:
Story Highlights • Witness describes gunman coming back to classroom • University officials say 33 dead, including a gunman • Four hospitals report 29 wounded • Attacks mark deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history: A gunman who killed at least 30 people at one of two shootings on the campus of Virginia Tech Monday was dressed "almost like a Boy Scout," said a woman who survived by pretending to lie dead on a classroom floor. Two people were killed in a separate incident about two hours earlier around 7:15 a.m at a dormitory on the campus. University police Chief Wendell Flinchum said police were still investigating whether the two incidents are related.

Gunman Kills 32 at Virginia Tech
In Deadliest Shooting in U.S. History
Ian Shapira and Tom Jackman / The Washington Post:
BLACKSBURG, Va. -- An outburst of gunfire at a Virginia Tech dormitory, followed two hours later by a ruthless string of attacks at a classroom building, killed 32 students, faculty and staff and left about 30 others injured yesterday in the deadliest shooting rampage in the nation's history. The shooter, whose name was not released last night, wore bluejeans, a blue jacket and a vest holding ammunition, witnesses said. He carried a 9mm semiautomatic and a .22-caliber handgun, both with the serial numbers obliterated, federal law enforcement officials said. Witnesses described the shooter as a young man of Asian descent -- a silent killer who was calm and showed no expression as he pursued and shot his victims. He killed himself as police closed in.

Rudy Will Speak At Rev. Pat U

Maggie Haberman / New York Post:
Republican White House hopeful Rudy Giuliani will speak tomorrow at the university founded by televangelist Pat Robertson, a major appearance for the former mayor before a conservative crowd. Several hundred people have registered to size up Giuliani, who holds liberal social views but is casting himself as the campaign's true "fiscal conservative." He will be introduced at Regent University by Robertson - who in 2005 said Giuliani would make "a good president."

Free Speech Under Attack By Powerful Interests

Al Cronkrite / The Covenant News:
The recent brouhaha over New York shock jock Don Imus’s description of C. Vivian Stringer’s Rutger’s Scarlet Knights women’s basketball team which has been encouraged, and exacerbated by the press and media appears to be another attempt to breach the First Amendment and stifle our right to free speech. Three groups have been responsible for pushing this agenda: Jews, Blacks, and homosexuals.

Most Painless Way To Kill A Chicken

The American View Radio:
“The American View” features a lengthy expose of liar/race-hustler Al Sharpton who, sad to say, radio shock-jock Don Imus chose to grovel before to try and get absolution for a stupid, racist remark he made on his program. In fact, if Imus is to be fired it should be for bowing the knee to Sharpton! We also discuss: President Bush’s current call for “aggressively” dealing with the illegal alien problem – which he has NOT done: “Burger King,” animal “rights” and what might be the best, least hurtful way to kill a chicken.

O'Reilly Sells Out to Sharpton

Cliff Kincaid / Accuracy In Media:
Al Sharpton, labeled a "public liar and racial arsonist" in a devastating piece by John Perazzo on Frontpagemag.com, has an enabler named Bill O'Reilly. Watchers of "The Factor" may be interested to know that O'Reilly is paying homage to Sharpton at the civil rights agitator's upcoming national convention. Indeed, O'Reilly himself is an honored guest. I knew something was suspicious when I was watching O'Reilly interview Sharpton on Wednesday night. I was very disappointed that O'Reilly, who can be aggressive with some guests, did not bring up Sharpton's conviction for lying in the Tawana Brawley defamation case.

Has Anyone Seen Evolution?

Gary DeMar / American Vision:
Marc Hauser, a Harvard evolutionary biologist, believes that “evolution hardwired us to know right from wrong . . . based on instincts encoded in our brains by evolution.” He “argues that millions of years of natural selection have molded a universal moral grammar within our brains that enables us to make rapid decisions about ethical dilemmas.” Dr. Robert Henkin of the Taste and Smell Clinic in Washington tried to persuade his readers that “Evolution taught humans to smell. . . . When people can’t smell, they can’t taste and they end up getting poisoned by food.” What happened before animals could develop the necessary smell mechanism to detect poisons? They would have died. So how could they have evolved if they kept dying from ingesting poisons?

Amnesty Program: Worst Thing For America

Michael Cutler / NewsWithViews.com:
President Ronald Reagan used to show his annoyance during a debate by saying, "There you go again!" I feel compelled to use that expression to show my disdain for the statement that was made by Emilio T. Gonzalez, the Director of USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) when he testified before the House Appropriations Committee yesterday, March 27th.

53% of Americans On the Dole

Mark Trumbull / The Christian Science Monitor:
Slightly over half of all Americans – 52.6 percent – now receive significant income from government programs, according to an analysis by Gary Shilling, an economist in Springfield, N.J. That's up from 49.4 percent in 2000 and far above the 28.3 percent of Americans in 1950. If the trend continues, the percentage could rise within ten years to pass 55 percent, where it stood in 1980 on the eve of President's Reagan's move to scale back the size of government.

Mary Winkler Tried Bad Checks

The Associated Press:
Bank tellers testified Saturday that a preacher's wife accused of murdering her husband with a shotgun was in financial trouble and that their bank had caught her trying to deposit bad checks. Prosecutors have said the couple's account at Regions Bank in Selmer was overdrawn by $5,000, and that bank employees called Mary Winkler several times in the days before Matthew Winkler was found shot to death in the church parsonage. Prosecutors have said Mary Winkler was caught up in a swindle known as the "Nigerian scam," in which victims are promised riches if they advance money to cover processing expenses.

'Forced Abortion' is a FACE Act Violation

It's against the law to use force to keep women from
obtaining reproductive health services of prenatal care
by Jim Rudd
According to the The Post and Courier in Charleston, SC., police officer Jerod Frazier pulled a gun in a hotel room and threatened his then pregnant 19-year-old baby sitter, Felicia Cooper, forcing her to terminate her pregnancy and keeping her from obtaining the reproductive health services of prenatal care. After pulling his gun and threatening her life officer Frazier kidnapped Cooper by driving her the next day to the Charleston Women's Medical Center, and fearing for her life, she aborted her child. Despite the fact that officer Frazier appears to be a cold-blooded baby killer, and if guilty should be hanged, even more astounding is that Frazier has only been charged with assault.

According to federal law, a pro-abort can no more pull a gun and force a women to terminate her pregnancy, than a pro-lifer can pull a gun and force a women NOT to abort her child. Plus, I'm sure South Carolina has a law somewhere on the books that makes it illegal to kidnap people. The question The Post and Courier newspaper should be asking is why the 9th Circuit Solicitors Office has not yet filed charges against officer Frazier for kidnapping and violating the federal FACE Act?

The premiss of the FACE Act, we have been told, is that it is illegal to use "force" to stop people from obtaining reproductive health services. The point here is that officer Frazier "forced" Felicia Cooper to terminate her pregnancy and thereby stopping her from obtaining the reproductive health services of prenatal care.

If a Justice system uses a federal law to prosecute protesters doing sit-in's at abortion clinics for interfering with a woman's "reproductive health service," then it should be expected this Justice system will use the same law to prosecute people who use "force" to stop women from obtaining the reproductive health services of prenatal care. If the two edged sword of Justice does not cut both ways, then those holding the sword are hypocrites and have abrogated the authority of their office!

Using "Force" to Stop Women from Obtaining
Reproductive Health Services of Prenatal Care
The federal FACE Act states: "Whoever by force or threat of force or by physical obstruction, intentionally injures, intimidates or interferes with or attempts to injure, intimidate or interfere with any person because that person is or has been, or in order to intimidate such person or any other person or any class of persons from, obtaining or providing reproductive health services. ...shall be subject to the penalties provided in subsection (b) and the civil remedies provided in subsection (c). (b) Penalties.--Whoever violates this section shall-- (1) in the case of a first offense, be fined in accordance with this title, or imprisoned not more than one year, or both."

Definitions.— As used in this section:
Reproductive health services.— The term “reproductive health services” means reproductive health services provided in a hospital, clinic, physician’s office, or other facility, and includes medical, surgical, counselling or referral services relating to the human reproductive system, including services relating to pregnancy or the termination of a pregnancy.

Bush Urges 'Tax Funding' for Catholic Schools

Jon Ward and Natasha Altamirano / The Washington Times:
President Bush said he will try to prevent an increasing number of inner-city Catholic parochial schools from closing by adding funding for them in the upcoming renewal of the No Child Left Behind law. America's Catholic schools "have given millions of Americans the knowledge and character they need to succeed in life," Mr. Bush said during a short speech at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast.

Lost Southern History Recovered

E. Ray Moore, Jr., Th.M. / The Covenant News:
New York playwright and author, John Chodes, has written a significant book that uncovers the neglected history surrounding the rise of state-sponsored education in the South during Reconstruction and the years following. Chodes, a longtime friend of the South and of the limited Constitutional government that the South represents, has written on this history before in periodicals such as Chronicles, The Freeman, The New York Tribune and The Southern Partisan. This book, however, may now be the definitive work on this topic to date.

Ala. Church Arsonists Get State Prison Time

Covenant News Wire Service:
Three confessed church arsonists pleaded guilty Thursday to burning Bibb County churches and under their plea agreement will spend two years of a 15-year sentence in state prison. Their time in state prison will begin after they complete the federal sentences they received Monday in Birmingham's federal court. The three had sought youthful offender status, but were denied because of the seriousness of the crime, said District Attorney Michael Jackson. "We wanted them to know burning churches is serious, and state prison will help them understand," Jackson said.

When Do Bad Policies Become Treasonous?

Chuck Baldwin / The Covenant News:
That America's two most recent presidents, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, have been guilty of egregiously flawed and fallacious decisions and activities is obvious. However, at what point do bad policies and conduct become treasonous? At what point do we conclude that our country's Chief Executive has crossed the line of mere inanity or naïveté and has actually become a threat to our national security and survival?

'Dishonest Abe' No Christian - Part II

John Lofton / The American View:
In a previous article, Pastor Steve Wilkins wrote about the evidence that indicates that Abraham Lincoln was not a Christian. In his book “Lincoln” (Simon & Schuster, 1995), David Herbert Donald, a Professor of History Emeritus at Harvard, supports what Pastor Wilkins wrote. Donald says (p. 15) that from his earliest days Lincoln had a sense his destiny was controlled by “some Higher Power” and that he “turned away from orthodox Christianity” finding it easier as a young man to accept something called the Doctrine of Necessity which Lincoln defined as the belief “that the human mind is impelled to action, or held in rest by some power, over which the mind itself has no control.”

Titus to Defend Bible-Based Public Policy

Brandon Vallorani / American Vision:
On Thursday, May 31 at 8:00 PM, Herb Titus will publicly debate Rev. Barry Lynn—the Executive Director the Americans United for Separation of Church & State on this crucial question: Does the First Amendment prohibit a biblically-based public policy? Rev. Barry Lynn, Executive Director of Americans United for Separation of Church & State says yes. Herb Titus, former ACLU attorney and renown defender of religious liberty, says no. More than 1,000 attendees are expected to attend. CSPAN has covered other debates hosted by American Vision and may likely cover this one as well.

Nappy Headed Race Pimps

Bret McAtee / The Backwater Report:
In the same week that charges against the Duke Lacrosse players were dropped Don Imus was fired from MSNBC and CBS for the kind of inappropriate racial language that makes millions of dollars when used by Black Hip Hop ‘lyricists’ and in Gangsta Rap ‘music.’ Seemingly, Imus’ mistake, beyond being routinely vulgar, was being overly precise as to announcing exactly who, in his opinion, ‘nappy headed hos’ actually are. So, as a result of Imus’ precision what we are seeing currently is the outrage by the Race Pimps over a stupid and tasteless ‘comedy’ routine all the while going mute over the false charges of African American woman Crystal Gail Mangum against three white Duke Lacrosse players which has tarnished the reputation of these men, cost each of their families upwards of 1 million dollars each in attorney fees, and could have quite easily landed them in jail for years.

The Imus Lynch Party

Patrick J. Buchanan / LewRockwell.com:
Are we really a better country because, after he was publicly whipped for 10 days as the worst kind of racist, with whom no decent person could associate, he was thrown off the air? Cards on the table. This writer works for MSNBC, has been on the Imus show scores of times, watches Imus every morning, and likes the show, the music and the guys: the I-Man, Bernie, Charles and Tom Bowman. And Imus is among the best interviewers in our business. Not only does he read and follow the news closely, he listens and probes as well as any interviewer in America. Because he is a comic, people mistake how good a questioner he is.

W The Defeatist: Surrender At The Border

Rich Lowry / New York Post:
Not all incremental progress is equal in the eyes of President Bush. When it occurs in Iraq, it is a sign that we need to forge ahead despite all difficulties. When it occurs on our Southern border, it is deemed insufficient and a sign that - to use a favorite GOP phrase - we need to settle on a "surrender date" on immigration enforcement. That date would be whenever Bush's latest "comprehensive" reform proposal kicked in. He wants to legalize illegal immigrants already here and invite in "temporary" guest workers. When Congress finishes with it, this probably will be another proposal to solve the illegal-immigrant problem by making all immigrants, past and future, legal.

The Meaning of Theocracy

Rev. R.J. Rushdoony / The Chalcedon Foundation:
Few things are more commonly misunderstood than the nature and meaning of theocracy. It is commonly assumed to be a dictatorial rule by self-appointed men who claim to rule for God. In reality, theocracy in Biblical law is the closest thing to a radical libertarianism that can be had. In Biblical law, the only civil tax was the head or poll tax, the same for all males twenty years of age and older (Ex. 30:16). This tax provided an atonement or covering for people, i.e., the covering of civil protection by the state as a ministry of justice (Rom. 13:1-4).

'Pagan Morality' on Way to Becoming Law

Bob Unruh / WorldNetDaily.com:
A legislative plan to "eliminate attitudes" opposing homosexuality is moving forward in Oregon, even though opponents claim it threatens churches and establishes pagan morality as a benchmark for their operations. Senate Bill 2, already endorsed by the state Senate and favored by Gov. Ted Kulongoski, a Democrat, now heads to the floor of the state House following a 5-1 committee endorsement. It is expected to be voted on within the next week.

What If The Pilgrims Had Been Muslims?

Coach Dave Daubenmire / NewsWithViews.com:
“So, why is murder wrong?” I posited that question to a group of high school seniors in an affluent Columbus suburban school. I had been invited to speak to a class called “Poly Rad,” which is a course designed to give seniors a variety of different views across the political spectrum. It stimulates a great deal of debate and really exposes the crux of modern American education.

The Security-Industrial Complex

Paul Craig Roberts / LewRockwell.com:
The War on Terror is a marketing campaign for security industries and terrorism experts. The latter are pulling in the consulting fees, and the former are rapidly inventing new products that enable "our" government to watch our every move and to know our location at every moment. Although it should be working on its corporate ethics, BAE Systems is working on an "Onboard Threat Detection System." The system consists of tiny cameras and microphones implanted in airline seats. The Onboard Threat Detection System records every facial expression and every whisper of every passenger, allowing watchful eyes and ears to detect terrorists before they can strike. BAE says its system is so sophisticated that it can differentiate between nervous flyers and real terrorists.

Jesus Tomb Film Scholars Backtrack

Etgar Lefkovits / The Jerusalem Post:
Several prominent scholars who were interviewed in a bitterly contested documentary that suggests that Jesus and his family members were buried in a nondescript ancient Jerusalem burial cave have now revised their conclusions, including the statistician who claimed that the odds were 600:1 in favor of the tomb being the family burial cave of Jesus of Nazareth, a new study on the fallout from the popular documentary shows.

Judge Orders External Audit for Church

Allison Hoffman / The Associated Press:
A federal bankruptcy judge Wednesday ordered an external audit of the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego amid accusations church leaders are trying to hide assessts to avoid payment to sex abuse victims. Judge Louise DeCarl Adler had earlier threatened the diocese with contempt for misrepresenting facts and possibly violating bankruptcy laws. She criticized church attorneys for failing to include 770 parish accounts in bankruptcy documents.

Panel Rules Homicide in Fetus Slaying

Jim Suhr / The Associated Press:
A baby sitter charged with murder clubbed a pregnant woman in the head repeatedly with a table leg, then cut her fetus from the womb in a bathtub where she later drowned the victim's three young children, an investigator testified Wednesday. The grisly details in the September slayings of Jimella Tunstall and her family were revealed at a hearing where a coroner's jury, after a few minutes of deliberations, concluded the deaths were homicides.

Duke Lacrosse Rape Case Dropped

The Associated Press:
Statement from North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper on the Duke University lacrosse rape case. Good afternoon, everyone. On Jan. 13 of this year, I accepted the request of the Durham district attorney to take over three Durham cases. At the time, I promised a fresh and thorough review of the facts and a decision on the best way to proceed. ... The result of our review and investigation shows clearly that there is insufficient evidence to proceed on any of the charges. Today we are filing notices of dismissal for all charges against Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty and David Evans.

Hollow Men and Pathetic Goals

John Lofton / The American View:
Paul Weyrich is a self-identified “Greek Catholic.” William Lind is a self-identified “Anglo-Catholic.” In addition, Paul, a long-time friend, is also Chairman and CEO of the “Free Congress Research And Education Foundation;” Lind is Director of its “Center For Cultural Conservatism.” In an article by Weyrich/Lind (WL) headlined “The Next Conservatism” in “The American Conservative” magazine (2/12/07), they advocate, to save conservatism and possibly our country, something they call “retroculture.” They say “retroculture” is “a conscious, deliberate recovery of the past….good things from the past…. By making old things new, retroculture might offer a counterweight to the endless spiral downward that pop culture decrees in everything.”

The Kingdom has Come

Gary DeMar / American Vision:
Many Christians believe the kingdom can only be identified within the confines of the church, and kingdom activity cannot manifest itself outside the church. In their view the kingdom is the church and nothing but the church. Since the church is “sacred” and the world “profane,” as they see it, the church should not consider the world as an arena for kingdom activity. The world is the domain of the existing kingdoms that will only be judged when God’s kingdom is inaugurated sometime in the future. Does this mean to hold a job “in the world” is to walk outside the kingdom?

Theocratic Considerations

Greg L. Bahnsen / The Chalcedon Foundation:
In the process of investigating the scriptural view of the separation of church and state it was observed that the sword of the church (viz., God's word) is not of second-rate power just because it does not operate like the sword of the state (viz., physical punishment, even execution). In particular the power of the church sword is evident from the success that is promised to its preaching.

Church Switchers & Agenda-Driven Surveys

Paul Proctor / NewsWithViews.com:
According to Audrey Barrick, reporter for The Christian Post, "The top reason adults switch to a new church is to flee their previous church, a recent study found." That's news? Armed with stats from a recent LifeWay Research study, she continues to state the obvious in an article titled: "Most Adults Switch Churches to Flee Former Church." And, after citing numerous reasons and alleged percentages, almost as an afterthought, she finally gets around to the hot button issue - the real reason people are changing churches: Some church switchers leave because of too many changes in the church.

Mary Winkler Has Date In Court

Beth Rucker / The Associated Press:
The preacher's wife everyone described as quiet and unassuming walked into court with her lawyers Monday for the start of her murder trial in the shotgun killing of her husband in their church parsonage. Mary Winkler, 33, was met by a crowd of photographers and TV cameras as she arrived for the start of jury selection.

Related:
Lawyers Work To Narrow Field of Jurors for Winkler Trial
By Tonya Smith-King / Jackson Sun
SELMER -- Defense attorneys continued Tuesday to ask Mary Winkler's potential jurors questions that seemed to give a glimpse into what her defense will be in her first-degree murder trial that started Monday. Are people products of their environments? Is battered spouse syndrome a myth or a reality? Ever known anyone who suffered memory loss from a traumatic event?

Reward for Missing Preacher's Wife

Sara Bonisteel / FOX News:
The family of a missing Alabama preacher's wife has offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to her whereabouts or safe return, police announced Tuesday. The Summerdale, Ala., family of Mary Byrne "Beth" Smith" is offering the award 18 days after she disappeared from a religious conference in northern Louisiana.

Ala. Church Arsonists Get 7-8 Years

Covenant News Wire Service:
Three former Birmingham college students are headed for federal prison cells after a judge Monday ordered them to serve sentences ranging from seven to eight years for a series of rural church fires. U.S. District Judge David Proctor sentenced Matthew Cloyd, 21, and Benjamin Moseley, 20, to eight-year prison terms for setting fire to nine churches in West Alabama. Russell DeBusk, 20, who confessed to setting five fires, received a seven-year sentence. In addition, the judge ordered combined restitution of $3.1 million, with Cloyd and Moseley bearing a greater share of responsibility for those payments than DeBusk.

Still face circuit court: On Thursday, they will appear in a closed hearing in Bibb County Circuit Court, where they have applied for youthful offender status that would provide for a sentence of as much as three years in state prison and their cases to be sealed.

Have Christians Become Dupes

Chuck Baldwin / The Covenant News:
As I peruse the hundreds of email letters I receive, one observation leaps out at me: in the last few years, there has been a distinct philosophical shift taking place in the reasoning of professing Christians. Somewhere along the way, politicians seem to have been granted a kind of spiritual status. This trend is very troubling and portends great problems for our country. Let me see if I can explain.

The Diversity Demon: 'A House Divided'

Al Cronkrite / The Covenant News:
It appears that the primary reason efforts to maintain a Christian presence in the United States public square have been lost is the diversity of theologies that make up the Christian majority of our population. Efforts to win an argument that our Founders created a Christian nation have as much to support opposition as to affirm supporters and even if the supporters were to win it would be difficult to determine under which Christian denomination we were living. True religion is always exclusive. Multi-religionism nullifies exclusivity and allows humanism to flourish.

The Twisted Cross

Russ Young / The Covenant News:
Some of my generation may recall the classic 1956 documentary “The Twisted Cross.” Originally produced as a part of a series for NBC, and later used as an educational film in schools, including my own, it relied primarily upon collected newsreel footage to chronicle the rise and fall of Nazi Germany. The title alluded to both the Nazi swastika, and how a nation with such a rich history of Christian heritage became perverted. Today, “The Twisted Cross” as a title most aptly applies to the state of evangelical Christianity. Many sins of the church have contributed to the twisting, but one of the root issues, or the upright beam, must be biblical illiteracy.

Fellow-Partakers in the Tribulation and Kingdom

Gary DeMar / American Vision:
From a study of the Old Testament we realize that God’s kingdom was a present reality even before Jesus came to earth. The New Testament does not indicate that it has somehow been interrupted or postponed for a distant future fulfillment. Even Nebuchadnezzar understood that God’s “dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom endures from generation to generation” (Dan. 4:34). There is no “parenthesis,” no gap of nearly two thousand years where God’s “dominion” has somehow been put on hold.

Theocracy Matters

Rev. Christopher B. Strevel / The Chalcedon Foundation:
While for many Christians pluralism seems pragmatic, it is very problematic. Popular wisdom suggests that Christians can only be relevant if they work for small gains within the existing system and stand strongly for one or two non-negotiable social issues. We can’t change the world in a day, so this is an understandable response. However, long-term cultural reformation requires something more — a consistently Christian political philosophy, one drawn from the Bible rather than from Enlightenment principles, so that Christian voters, Christian candidates, and Christian judges can use it as a standard.

The Resurrection and the Life

Chris Ortiz / Chalcedon Blog:
Jesus said to her,

"Your brother will rise again." Martha said to Him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day." Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die." John 11:23-25

Easter is supposed to be a celebration of the resurrection of our Lord. Based upon these brief verses mentioned above, resurrection is a recurring theme throughout Scriptures. These particular passages are important because of a simple point that is often missed in discussions surrounding the resurrection. To a great extent, we are not much further than the Pharisees and Sadducees when it comes to the doctrine of the resurrection.

Peroutka Slams Big-Money Presidential Hopefuls

Jim Brown / Journal Chrétien - Paris, France:
A former presidential candidate laments that only the 2008 presidential candidates who raise the most campaign cash will make it through the "filters" of the mainstream media. He suggests that those candidates dubbed by the media as leading contenders, based on that criteria alone, should matter little to Christian voters.

The Federal Reserve Monopoly over Money

Rep. Ron Paul / Texas Straight Talk:
Recently I had the opportunity to question Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke when he appeared before the congressional Joint Economic committee. The topic that morning was the state of the American economy, and many of my colleagues raised questions about how the Fed might better "regulate" things to ease fears of an economic downturn. The tenor of my colleagues' questions suggested that Mr. Berna