Friday, January 31, 2014

College Professor Discusses Differences in Christianity

An interesting article from http://www.ucg.org/ about differences within Christianity. This follows this post about the direction the U.S. is going. This follows this post about Valentine's DayFor a free magazine subscription or to get the book shown for free click HERE! or call 1-888-886- 8632.




College Professor Discusses Differences in Christianity

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Jesus said that He didn't come to bring peace to the earth, but division. And that has definitely happened.

Vertical Thought recently interviewed Ronald Wroblewski, who has been an instructor at Spoon River College in Canton, Illinois, for the past 12 years. He teaches such courses as World Religions, Introduction to Philosophy, Ethics, and Logic and Critical Thinking.
Mr. Wroblewski earned a bachelor's degree in political science at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and a master's degree in health care administration from the University of St. Francis in Joliet, Illinois. He received a bachelor's degree in theology and a master's degree in religious studies from Ambassador College in Pasadena, California.
Mr. Wroblewski attends the Canton, Illinois, congregation of the United Church of God and is currently pursuing his Ph.D. from Bernelli University.
Vertical Thought: At the beginning of your World Religions course, you mention that there are thousands of different Christian churches. If they all trace their beliefs to the Bible, are they really all that different?
Ron Wroblewski: Yes. There are major differences in governance, how rituals are carried out and many other things. It also seems there is a different church for each variation of doctrine that has occurred during the centuries.
There are major differences between Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox and Protestant churches, of course. Then you have the Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh-day Adventists and the Church of God groups. And then there are Pentecostal churches, which are very different from traditional mainline churches like Lutherans and Methodists.
Jesus said that He didn't come to bring peace to the earth, but division. And that has definitely happened.
VT: When did all the differences first start to appear, and why did these Christians—whose name indicates that they are followers of Christ—deviate from what He and His disciples taught?
RW: As we know, differences were referred to in the letters of the New Testament. By the middle of the second century, several major doctrinal divisions were developing. For example, debate began on what happens after death. The controversy over whether human beings have an immortal soul versus whether they are waiting to be resurrected is still with Christianity today.
My personal feelings are that since the early Church expected Christ to return quickly, hope of that was fading after two generations and people began to look for other explanations of what happens after death. When the hope of the early Church didn't come to pass, many people gave up on it.
VT: Where did the alternative ideas originate?
RW: It looks like the Gnostics were the first to attempt to combine portions of Christianity with Greek philosophy. They rejected the resurrection of the body and replaced it with Plato's doctrine of the immortality of the soul. They believed the spirit is everything, the body nothing, and fell into moral licentiousness. Much of their time was spent learning the "correct" magic passwords that would enable the delivered soul to pass back to its heavenly home.
In the second century, [the Catholic theologian] Origen taught that souls might be eternal—preexisting birth and surviving death through reincarnation. He was very sympathetic to the Platonic doctrine of the soul as being akin to God but obliged to live in a material world that is not its true home.
Another church father, Augustine, also attempted to combine Plato's ideas about the immortality of the soul with Christian teachings. Many of these doctrinal divisions came to a head in the fourth century when the Roman emperor Constantine forced them to be settled by the Council of Nicaea in A.D. 325.
VT: How did the Roman emperor get involved in Christianity? Didn't the Romans persecute Christians?
RW: At first, many Christians were killed for refusing to worship the emperor. Later, Constantine saw Christianity as something that could bring unity to his far-flung empire. But to do so, the disputes that divided Christianity had to be resolved. He called for a meeting of all bishops at Nicaea [in what is now northwestern Turkey] in A.D. 325 to discuss these issues.
After heated debate at the Council of Nicaea, Constantine made several declarations, one of which established Sunday as the official day of worship. It is noteworthy that Constantine's stated motive for introducing this custom was respect for the sun. He was not aware of any mutual exclusiveness between Christianity and his faith in the sun. The transition from solar monotheism (the most popular form of contemporary paganism) to Christianity was not difficult.
Constantine also decreed that Christians would observe Easter, and it would be forbidden to keep Passover. In fact, he stated that Christians were to stay away from anything that was "Jewish."
VT: Is that why other observances listed in the Bible, like Passover, the Days of Unleavened Bread and Pentecost, disappeared from modern Christianity?
RW: Yes. The Romans turned to persecuting all things Jewish, and Christians often had to decide whether to hold what appeared to be Jewish beliefs and likely suffer persecution or to worship on different dates and avoid that persecution.
Easter definitely replaced Passover. Wiccans claim Christians stole Easter from them. One text I use in class, Phyllis Curott's Book of Shadows , explains that the name Easter comes from the name of the German fertility goddess Eostre. Eggs and rabbits—commonly associated with the holiday—are symbols of fertility.
The Catholic Church timed Easter to coincide with the first Sunday after the first full moon following the spring equinox, another remnant of the old (pagan) religion just below the surface of the new.
VT: Did this happen with other modern Christian holidays?
RW: Other holidays were adopted to add numbers to the church without requiring people to give up their cherished practices. There are letters between bishops that discuss ways to convert pagans. The answer was to attempt to eliminate the worst of the practices and put the others under the umbrella of Christianity. They simply changed the name of who was being worshipped. Christmas, originally the birthday of the sun god, became the day to worship the Son of God.
VT: So did the controversy stop after the Council of Nicaea?
RW: No. The [Catholic] church split in A.D. 1054 into the Roman Catholic Church in the West and the Eastern Orthodox Church in the East. Some of the issues that led to this split included the pope's authority, the use of statues in worship versus the use of icons and whether priests would be allowed to marry.
A second major split—known as the Protestant Reformation—happened in the 16th century. There had been growing dissatisfaction with some of the church's teachings and in 1517 Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses to stimulate discussion on several of these issues, such as the belief in purgatory, the sale of indulgences [buying one's or another's way out of purgatory] and confession to priests. Ultimately, this led to the start of the Lutheran Church.
King Henry VIII of England also broke away from the Catholic Church to establish the Anglican Church. Still other issues led to further splits within the Christian community. Some of those include transubstantiation (whether the bread and wine become Christ's actual body and blood or whether they are just symbols) and whether works (good deeds) were necessary for salvation. Others debate what happens to people when they die, at what age one must be baptized and whether immersion in water is necessary for baptism or whether sprinkling is sufficient.
VT: Which doctrinal shift do you think changed Christianity most?
RW: The Council of Nicaea was definitely a major shifting point, with the settling of the controversial questions. The Protestant Reformation was another major turning point. But the Protestants, while eliminating several of the serious abuses of the Catholic Church, didn't go far enough in restoring the original faith of the first-century Church. VT
Editor's note: If you'd like to learn more about the original Christianity taught by Jesus and practiced by the first-century Church, request our free booklet The Church Jesus Built .

Obama’s State of the Union Address: I Will Rule as a Dictator, Kicking Congress to the Curb, Illegally Amnesty Tens of Millions of Alien Invaders, and Improve Economic Mobility for Blacks, Hispanics, and Aliens, ALL AT WHITES’ EXPENSE (Transcript and Video)

A timely post about from http://nicholasstixuncensored.blogspot.com about the consequences of the State of the Union. This follows this post about GOP self destruction. This follows this post about a football player on the Seattle Seahawks. In the meantime, you can get more involved if you like here and read an interesting book HERE.


Obama’s State of the Union Address: I Will Rule as a Dictator, Kicking Congress to the Curb, Illegally Amnesty Tens of Millions of Alien Invaders, and Improve Economic Mobility for Blacks, Hispanics, and Aliens, ALL AT WHITES’ EXPENSE (Transcript and Video)


Illegal President Barack “Obama” gives his State of the Union address on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday Jan. 28, 2014.
(Forbes)




“Obama’s” introduction, by John Boehner (who is probably the legal president), is at about 18:40. The speech begins immediately thereafter.

Upload by the New York Times.


Re-posted by Nicholas Stix

CBS News

January 28, 2014, 9: 20 P.M.

Obama's 2014 State of the

Union address: Full text

As Prepared for Delivery –



http://nicholasstixuncensored.blogspot.com/2014/01/obamas-state-of-union-address-i-will.html

Share These Infographics with Your Friends About Obamacare

A timely post about from www.Yaf.org about the lies of Obamacare, the Affordable Care Act. This follows this post about the Youth Misery Index. This follows this post about multiculturalism in society.  In the meantime, you can get more involved if you like here and read an interesting book HERE.


Obama lies again, and again, and again...
Right click on each of these infographics to download to your computer and share with your friends on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, email, etc.
Obamacare 1
Obamacare 2

Obamacare 3

Obamacare 4



Thursday, January 30, 2014

Where Does America Go From Here?

An interesting article from http://www.ucg.org/ about the direction the U.S. is going. This follows this post about Turkey's role in the Middle East. This follows this post about Valentine's DayFor a free magazine subscription or to get the book shown for free click HERE! or call 1-888-886- 8632.


Where Does America Go From Here?



As the American president takes his oath of office with his hand on the Bible, proclaiming to faithfully fulfill his responsibilities "so help me God," should we not take into consideration how God views the "state of the union" of the United States?

Statue of Liberty with dark sky
Source: Photo illustration by Shaun Venish/123RF/iStockphoto
Warning signs come in many forms. Sometimes it's the piercing shriek of a fire alarm or the Emergency Alert System on the TV or radio. Maybe it's the wail of a loudspeaker indicating an oncoming tornado or hurricane. At times it might be the flashing lights and siren of an ambulance, fire truck or other emergency vehicle.
Regardless of their form, we're usually aware of what warning signs mean. They're intended to alert us to approaching danger, and we know that we must take action if we are to remain safe.
Sometimes the warning signs are not so obvious. Rather than screaming in our ears or shouting in our faces to get our attention like the examples above, the signs can be much more subtle. And if we're distracted by other things and not paying attention, we can easily miss them.
Could individuals—and sometimes even great nations—remain blind to dangers that otherwise should be obvious? Could Americans be ignoring warning signs that are shouting for our attention?

A look at the state of the union

Early each year the U.S. president gives his annual State of the Union address to Congress—and, by extension, the nation and world as a whole. It's typically a lofty speech filled with ideals and platitudes expressing the president's agenda.
But despite what it's called, the speech seldom addresses the actual state of the nation. If we were to examine the condition of the United States from the perspective of God's Word, what would we find?
On the rostrum above the head of the president as He gives this speech, seemingly avoided by TV cameras, is the motto "In God We Trust." The president is himself sworn into office with his hand on a Bible as he pledges to carry out his duties "so help me God."
So what would God think about the current state of the United States?

Growing acceptance of immoral behavior

The November 2012 U.S. elections were a revealing window into the prevailing mindset of voters. For the first time, voters legalized marriage between homosexuals in several states—Maine, Maryland and Washington.
Same-sex marriage had already been approved by state legislatures or courts in six other states, but this was the first time it was approved directly by voters—after it had previously been rejected 32 times in statewide votes dating back to 1998.
Homosexual behavior is repeatedly condemned in Scripture (Leviticus 18:22; Leviticus 20:13; Romans 1:26-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; 1 Timothy 1:10). Yet far from being ashamed of such behavior, many pride themselves on their acceptance of it.
With the country's many "gay pride" marches and parades, could Isaiah 3:9 be a prophecy for America today? "The look on their faces testifies against them; they parade their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to them! They have brought disaster upon themselves" (New International Version, emphasis added throughout).
Meanwhile, in two states—Colorado and Washington—voters approved possession and recreational use of marijuana, a hallucinogenic drug that remains illegal under federal law. Nineteen other states allow what is called "medicinal" use of the drug, though it's clearly abused by many who want to use it simply to get high.
Although marijuana isn't directly mentioned in Scripture, God's Word clearly condemns intoxication in any form—calling those seeking it "drunkards" who will have no place in the Kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 5:11; 1 Corinthians 6:10; Galatians 5:21). The reason so many use marijuana is for the intoxicated state it produces. Otherwise, why do it?
Any nation brings curses on itself when it turns its back on biblical values and accepts sin as normal and commonplace. Thinking themselves enlightened, people in reality only show how shortsighted and blind they are to the consequences of their choices.
They fail to take into account God's view, which He states in Isaiah 5:20-25: "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! . . .
"Therefore, as the fire devours the stubble, and the flame consumes the chaff, so their root will be as rottenness, and their blossom will ascend like dust; because they have rejected the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. Therefore the anger of the Lord is aroused against His people; He has stretched out His hand against them and stricken them . . ."

Broken marriages + broken families = broken society

As we have often discussed in the pages of The Good News, marriage and family are the building blocks of society. When marriages and families break down, so do the bonds holding society together.
So what's the state of marriage and family in America today?
For years about half of all U.S. marriages have ended in divorce. Seeing this sad fact, growing numbers of couples choose to skip marriage altogether.
According to U.S. census figures, between 1960 and 2000 the number of unmarried couples living together increased tenfold. It doubled again from 2000 to 2010, to 7.5 million couples—though the actual number may be considerably higher since unmarried partners may describe themselves as just friends or roommates.
About 12 percent of U.S. households are now unmarried couples living together. In some cities a third of couples living together are not married to each other. Other recent studies have shown that almost 60 percent of women ages 19-44 have chosen to live with a partner of the opposite sex at some point in their lives.
However, rather than a formula for stability, living together before marriage only increases the odds that a couple will break up. About 40 percent of couples who move in together separate before marriage. And, of those who do marry, studies show the divorce rate ranges from 50 to 80 percent higher than those who chose not to live together before marriage.

The curses of promiscuity, abortion and illegitimacy

Sexual promiscuity begins early. Studies show that from 40 to 50 percent of U.S. teens are sexually active, with 20 percent having sexual intercourse by age 15.
And they are reaping the tragic fruits of breaking God's command against engaging in sex outside of marriage (Exodus 20:14; Ephesians 5:3, 5; Hebrews 13:4; Revelation 21:8). Young people ages 15-24 account for nearly half of the nation's 19 million new sexually transmitted infections each year. One in four females ages 15 to 19 is infected with at least one sexually transmitted disease. And each year more than 750,000 15- to 19-year-old females become pregnant, the vast majority unintended.
With so many showing such disregard for God's instruction regarding sex and marriage, it's no surprise that the nation is suffering from twin curses of abortion and illegitimacy. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), almost one in five pregnancies (18 percent) in America end in the abortion of the unborn baby. The nation's estimated annual death toll from abortion ranges from about 750,000 to over 1 million.
To put this in perspective, Americans were rightfully horrified by the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, in which nearly 3,000 people lost their lives in the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and in the crash of an airliner in a Pennsylvania field. Yet almost the same number of innocent unborn children are murdered by abortion in America every single day. Where is the outrage? What does this tell us about the deplorable moral state of the nation?
Another sad fruit of the nation's promiscuity is that the percentage of births that are illegitimate—children born to unmarried parents—is also dramatically rising.
Of first births to mothers ages 15 to 44 today, almost half—46 percent— are illegitimate. For women ages 20-24, well over half—a staggering 61 percent —are to unmarried mothers.

A huge financial toll on society

As bad as these percentages are, they only hint at the terrible toll this takes on society—and on these children in particular. Numerous studies have shown that children born into fatherless homes are far more likely to die in infancy, to be poor, to show aggressive behavior, to abuse drugs, to have behavioral problems in school and to spend time in jail or prison.
Nearly 2 million children are born each year to unmarried parents, often to women with limited education and prospects for improving their lives. What is the cost to taxpayers?
In the 2011 fiscal year, federal and state governments spent a combined $450 billion on assistance to low-income families with children—with about three quarters of this, or some $330 billion, going to single-parent families. This averages out to about $30,000 in assistance to each single-parent household.
But this doesn't mean that this much is actually going to those who need it. Vast amounts go to the government bureaucracies and hundreds of thousands of federal and state employees tasked with overseeing assistance programs. The U.S. government currently operates more than 80 different means-tested federal programs that provide social services, medical care, food, housing, cash and other assistance to low-income families and individuals.

The curse of skyrocketing debt

It should be no surprise that the nation's growing social ills have contributed to an explosion in its financial problems.
Over the last year the debt problems of the European "PIIGS" countries—Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain—have regularly made headlines. Each of the five have enormous debt problems due to their inability to rein in government spending.
However, the per-person share of the government's outstanding debt in the United States is actually higher than in any of these deeply troubled countries!
Each American's share of federal government debt is about $45,000—15 percent higher than the per-capita debt of Greeks at almost $39,000. Even worse, American per-capita debt is expected to grow to almost $75,000 by 2020, only seven years away.
Why is government debt exploding? The simple answer is that the government is borrowing 40 cents of every dollar it spends.
To put this in perspective, the U.S. government is like a family with a $21,700 annual income spending $38,200 a year, with $16,500 of that put on credit cards—when the family already owes $142,710 on those credit cards!
For four consecutive years the federal government has amassed a trillion-dollar deficit. It took the United States 200 years to accumulate its first trillion dollars in debt. Now it takes about 10 months!
In September 2012 the total deficit passed $16 trillion— an amount exceeding the nation's entire GDP! How vast is that number? A stack of 16 trillion $1 bills would extend higher than Mt. Everest, past the space station, past the moon 239,000 miles away and back to Earth— twice.
Shocking as these figures are, they in fact vastly underestimate the scope of the problem. We need to factor in unfunded liabilities—the amount needed to fully fund government promises for Social Security, Medicare, military and government employee pensions and health care. The real debt load then jumps, depending on which set of economic and demographic assumptions one works from, to five to ten times the $16 trillion amount— far exceeding the GDP of the entire planet! And that doesn't even include similar unfunded liabilities for the 50 individual states and hundreds of American towns and cities.
The bottom line? America's cities are broke, its states are broke, and the nation is broke. And we're living in a fool's paradise.
God warned centuries ago that "the borrower is servant to the lender" (Proverbs 22:7). America currently spends more than $400 billion per year just to pay interest on its staggering debt!
God pronounced curses that would come from a nation disobeying Him and rejecting His instruction: "The alien who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, and you shall come down lower and lower. He shall lend to you, but you shall not lend to him; he shall be the head, and you shall be the tail" (Deuteronomy 28:43-44).
The United States is experiencing a drastic turnaround unparalleled in history. Until about a generation ago, the United States was the world's leading lender nation. But now that has completely reversed, and America is the most indebted nation in world history—with more than half of U.S. debt held by rival nations such as China, Russia, Iran and Venezuela.

From blessings to curses

The United States is under a curse—as warned of centuries ago in the pages of your Bible. Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 record the blessings God promised would come when a nation honored and obeyed Him—and the curses that would come when it dishonors and disobeys Him, such as becoming a debtor nation, as quoted above.
For its first two centuries America enjoyed the abundant blessings foretold.
Yet God had warned: "But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you" (Deuteronomy 28:15).
What curses did He foretell?
"Cursed shall you be in the city," He began (Deuteronomy 28:16). What is the state of America's cities? Many are impressive on the outside, but they are rotten at the core. Growing numbers are bankrupt. Many are ridden with crime. Poverty, corruption, failing schools and thousands of unassimilated immigrants eat away at their stability. Millions of people flee them—with many millions more wishing they could do the same.
"Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl," God continues (Deuteronomy 28:17). These represent our food sources. Study after study shows that many of our food sources aren't healthy or good for us. For many, our diet and lifestyle may in fact be dangerous to our health.
"Cursed shall be the fruit of your body" (Deuteronomy 28:18). Birthrates are declining. And with the legalization of abortion, we have viewed our own children as curses and slaughtered them by the millions.
For the American children who are born, one in six has some kind of developmental disability according to the CDC—and the number is growing.
Moreover, as noted above, millions of children are born into households where the mother or father or both are ill-equipped
to care for them financially, emotionally, mentally or spiritually.
"Cursed shall be . . . the produce of your land, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks" (Deuteronomy 28:18). Only a few years ago the United States was among the world's largest exporters of food—primarily wheat, corn and meat. Now that too is reversed, and America actually imports more food than it exports.
"The Lord will make the plague cling to you . . . [He] will strike you with consumption, with fever, with inflammation, with severe burning fever . . . they shall pursue you until you perish" (Deuteronomy 28:21-22). In comparison to much of the world, Americans as a whole enjoy good health and long life. But that comes at an increasingly steep price. From 1980 to today, health care expenses have exploded more than tenfold.
Health care costs are currently about $2.8 trillion, amounting to 18 percent of the nation's GDP. Yet in spite of such enormous expenditures, Americans' life expectancy ranks only 42nd in the world, well behind most advanced nations.

Drought and defeat

"The sky over your head shall be bronze, and the earth under you iron. The Lord will change the rain of your land into powder, and only dust shall come down upon you from the sky until you are destroyed" (Deuteronomy 28:23-24, New Revised Standard Version).
Many Americans were rightfully worried about the widespread droughts and massive wildfires that plagued the country in 2012—as they did in several preceding years. With the nation having moved into winter, the situation remains serious. Lack of rainfall and snowfall has created the worst conditions for the winter wheat crop in almost 30 years.
Drought conditions have caused levels of two of the Great Lakes—Michigan and Huron—to fall to near-record lows, with the other three below historical averages. On the Mississippi River, water levels have dropped 15 to 20 feet below normal in some places, threatening to halt the barge traffic that carries millions of tons of crops and other goods through the American heartland.
"The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies; you shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them; and you shall become troublesome to all the kingdoms of the earth," God continues (Deuteronomy 28:25).
At the end of World War II America emerged as a new world superpower. With the collapse of the Soviet Union several decades later, it stood as the world's lone superpower. Yet in spite of its might, in a struggle lasting eight years and costing more than 4,400 American lives and more than $1 trillion, the United States withdrew from Iraq, leaving behind a dangerous and unstable nation. A similar pattern was followed in Afghanistan, where U.S. troops are scheduled to be gone by the end of 2014.
Why is it that the most powerful military in the world was essentially fought to a draw by comparatively primitive forces—the enemies having no navy, air force or massive war machinery and fighting from caves and holes in the ground, armed with IEDs and AK-47s?
This makes no sense at all until we consider God's warning and curse for our sins: "The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies . . ."

Will we heed the warnings?

Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 also list other curses to fall on the nation that defies Him—many truly horrifying to contemplate. We don't have space to cover them all here, but you can and should read them. This is what lies ahead unless the nation changes its ways!
America likes to be viewed as a religious nation. But for many their religiosity is only skin deep. Most American households have not just one but several Bibles. The problem is that they don't read the Bible, much less do and live as it says.
If you don't believe these warnings from the Bible, consider these other warnings from two of the nation's greatest presidents:
Thomas Jefferson, to whom many wrongly attribute belief in complete separation of church and state, wrote: "I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just [and] that his justice cannot sleep for ever . . ."
Abraham Lincoln, who saw the nation through a horrifying civil war, said: "At what point shall we expect the approach of danger? By what means shall we fortify against it? . . . I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher."
God's justice is indeed awakening from a long sleep. The warning signs are all around. Our destruction, as Lincoln warned, is coming from ourselves as a once-great nation increasingly rots from the core.
It may be too late to turn the nation around, but it's not too late for you. "Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near," the Bible urges us. "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon" (Isaiah 55:6-7).
God's blessing, forgiveness and assurance of peace and safety await those who are willing to repent—who turn to seek Him with all of their heart.
Will you heed your Creator's plea?

GOP CRAFTS PLAN TO WRECK THE COUNTRY, LOSE VOTERS

A timely post about from www.anncoulter.com about GOP self destruction. This follows this post about a football player on the Seattle Seahawks. In the meantime, you can get more involved if you like here and read an interesting book HERE.




GOP CRAFTS PLAN TO WRECK THE COUNTRY, LOSE VOTERS



As House Republicans prepare to sell out the country on immigration this week, Phyllis Schlafly has produced a stunning report on how immigration is changing the country. The report is still embargoed, but someone slipped me a copy, and it's too important to wait.

Leave aside the harm cheap labor being dumped on the country does to the millions of unemployed Americans. What does it mean for the Republican Party?

Citing surveys from the Pew Research Center, the Pew Hispanic Center, Gallup, NBC News, Harris polling, the Annenberg Policy Center, Latino Decisions, the Center for Immigration Studies and the Hudson Institute, Schlafly's report overwhelmingly demonstrates that merely continuing our current immigration policies spells doom for the Republican Party.

Immigrants -- all immigrants -- have always been the bulwark of the Democratic Party. For one thing, recent arrivals tend to be poor and in need of government assistance. Also, they're coming from societies that are far more left-wing than our own. History shows that, rather than fleeing those policies, they bring their cultures with them. (Look at what New Yorkers did to Vermont.)

This is not a secret. For at least a century, there's never been a period when a majority of immigrants weren't Democrats.

At the current accelerated rate of immigration -- 1.1 million new immigrants every year -- Republicans will be a fringe party in about a decade.

Thanks to endless polling, we have a pretty good idea of what most immigrants believe.

According to a Harris poll, 81 percent of native-born citizens think the schools should teach students to be proud of being American. Only 50 percent of naturalized U.S. citizens do.

While 67 percent of native-born Americans believe our Constitution is a higher legal authority than international law, only 37 percent of naturalized citizens agree.

No wonder they vote 2-1 for the Democrats.


The two largest immigrant groups, Hispanics and Asians, have little in common economically, culturally or historically. But they both overwhelmingly support big government, Obamacare, affirmative action and gun control.

According the 2012 National Asian American Survey, as well as a Kaiser Foundation poll, only 40 percent of the general public holds a favorable opinion of Obamacare, 42 percent unfavorable. Meanwhile, 51 percent of Asians have a favorable opinion of Obamacare, 18 percent an unfavorable one. Even Koreans support Obamacare by 57 percent to 17 percent.

Overall, 69 percent of immigrants like Obamacare, according to a 2010 Cooperative Congressional Election Study.

That same survey showed that only 35 percent of native-born Americans support affirmative action, compared to 58 percent of immigrants, including -- amazingly -- 64 percent of Asians (suggesting they may not be as smart as everyone thinks).

Also surprising, a Pew Research Center poll of all Hispanics, immigrant and citizen alike, found that Hispanics take a dimmer view of capitalism than even people who describe themselves as "liberal Democrats." While 47 percent of self-described "liberal Democrats" hold a negative view of capitalism, 55 percent of Hispanics do.

Pew also found that only 27 percent of Hispanics support gun rights, compared to 57 percent of non-Hispanic whites. According to Latino Decisions, large majorities of Hispanics favor a national database of gun owners, limiting the capacity of magazines and a ban on semiautomatic weapons.

Seventy-five percent of Hispanic immigrants and 55 percent of Asian immigrants support bigger government -- also according to Pew. Even after three generations in America, Hispanics still support bigger government 55 percent to 36 percent, compared to the general public, which opposes bigger government 48 percent to 41 percent.

How are Republicans going to square that circle? It's not their position on amnesty that immigrants don't like; it's Republicans' support for small government, gun rights, patriotism, the Constitution and capitalism.

Reading these statistics, does anyone wonder why Democrats think vastly increasing immigration should be the nation's No. 1 priority?

It would be one thing if the people with these views already lived here. Republicans would have no right to say, "You can't vote." But why on Earth are they bringing in people sworn to their political destruction?

Republicans have no obligation to assist the Democrats as they change the country in a way that favors them electorally, particularly when it does great harm to the people already here.

Yes, it's great for the most powerful Americans to have lots of cheap, unskilled labor. Immigration definitely solves the rich's "servant problem."

(Approximately 5 million times a day, MSNBC expresses bewilderment that any Republicans oppose amnesty when it's supported by the Chamber of Commerce. Wow! So even people who profit by flooding the country with cheap labor are in favor of flooding the country with cheap labor!)

It's terrific for ethnic lobbyists whose political clout will skyrocket the more foreign-born Americans we have.

And it's fantastic for the Democrats, who are well on their way to a permanent majority, so they can completely destroy the last remnants of what was once known as "the land of the free."

The only ones opposed to our current immigration policies are the people.

But are they going to give John Boehner a job when he's no longer House speaker, as some big business lobbyist will?

Will they help Marco Rubio run for president on the claim that, as a Cuban, he can appeal to Hispanics? (Fat chance.)

Will they bundle contributions for Eric Cantor's re-election, as well-heeled donors will?

Will they be enough to re-elect Kevin McCarthy to Congress so he can keep his gold-plated government health insurance?

Will they be the ones writing Darrell Issa's flattering New York Times obituary?

Sorry, Americans. You lose.

Why Pro-Amnesty Republicans Are So Desperate To Pass Immigration Reform This Year

A very interesting post from www.alipac.us about pro-amnesty Republicans! This follows this post about the State of the Union address. REMEMBER, “Amnesty” means ANY non-enforcement of existing immigration laws! This follows this comment and this post about how to Report Illegal Immigrants! For more about what you can do click here and you can read two very interesting books HERE.




Why Pro-Amnesty Republicans Are So Desperate To Pass Immigration Reform This Year

by



The most intriguing question about the latest GOP push on immigration is one that no one seems to be asking: Why does the Republican Party seem so determined to push immigration reform this year?

At first glance, it makes no sense whatsoever.


After all, because of Obamacare the electoral landscape is so tilted towards the GOP that it looks likely we'll add seats in the House and take the Senate back. With the filibuster as good as dead, why wouldn't Republicans want to write a tough immigration bill on their terms in 2015 and force Obama to either sign on to it or veto a bill that the public supports?

Jan 28, 2014
John Hawkins
www.townhall.com

Furthermore, Obama is illegally giving out work permits, refusing to deport most captured illegals and he has illegitimately created a DREAM ACT by fiat. This is a man who has made absolutely clear that he has no intention of enforcing immigration law; so how do you make any kind of deal that relies on his implementing even tougher rules? Realistically, you don't. Until the immigration laws that are already on the books are being enforced, talking about making new, tougher laws in exchange for the carrot of legalized status or citizenship is a farce.

In addition, the Democrats’ policy on illegal immigration is driven by one overriding goal: they want as many illegal immigrants as possible in the United States so they can eventually turn them into voters. If they can transform 10 million, 20 million, or 50 million illegal immigrants into citizens, they'd be happy to do it because they correctly believe the vast majority of them will be Democrat voters. How could we possibly negotiate a good deal when the people who control the White House AND the Senate think like that?

John Hawkins | Jan 28, 2014 townhall

Of course, some Republicans claim that passing this deal would help the GOP with Hispanics. However, there's very little evidence to support that assertion.

Ronald Reagan received 37% of the Hispanic vote in 1984, signed an amnesty in 1986, and then in 1988, George H.W. Bush got 30% of the Hispanic vote. Chances are, we wouldn’t even do that well in 2016 since Presidents tend to get the credit for legislation that’s signed on their watch. Who got credit for welfare reform and balancing the budget in the nineties? Bill Clinton or the Republicans in Congress who forced him to do it? Bill Clinton. Here’s an even better example: Who got credit for the 1964 Civil Rights Act? LBJ, who was known to drop the N-word from time to time or the Republicans in Congress who voted for it in greater numbers percentage-wise than the Democrats? Lyndon Johnson got all the credit.

If you don't believe me, take it from the biggest Republican advocate of amnesty in the Senate, John McCain.

"Let's say we enact it, comprehensive immigration reform, I don't think it gains a single Hispanic voter." -- John McCain

Worse yet, if the GOP signs on to a legalization bill that falls short of giving illegals citizenship, it's entirely possible that it would work against us politically with Hispanics. The Democrats would call it "racist," an "apartheid," and claim we are making illegals into "second class citizens." In other words, passing the bill could hurt the GOP in the short term with Hispanic voters and demographically flood conservatism out of existence over the long term if the Republicans cave yet again and give those illegals citizenship.

On top of all that, the bill that 14 Republicans signed onto in the Senate would have been an absolute disaster if it had been passed by the House. The bill legalized illegals on day one, put them on a path to citizenship and gave the same Obama Administration that isn't enforcing our laws today plenty of discretion in deciding how the law would be enforced in the future. Even the CBO, which is constrained by unrealistic rules in projecting the impact of laws said that the bill would "only reduce illegal immigration by about 25 percent a year." Since enforcing the laws that are already on the books would do that, there was absolutely no reason to believe the law would succeed. If Republicans and Democrats collaborating together came up with a law that bad, what makes anyone think the Republicans in the House could do any better? John Boehner does two things well: cry and give in. Negotiation isn't his strong suit.

So if politically it makes more sense for the GOP to wait until 2015 to take up immigration, we know the bill won't help the GOP with Hispanics and we know the Democrats have no intention of honoring any security provisions, then why bother? It's almost as if the House Leadership in the GOP is willing to pay a big price to pass a bill, even though they know it has no chance of working...and there's the big secret.

There are a lot of businesses out there that want an endless supply of cheap labor, which would be fine, except that they want everyone else to pay for it. An illegal alien with no car insurance, no health insurance, who claims he has 14 kids so he can get an earned income tax credit can work cheaper than a law abiding American. So, when the illegal crashes his car, you pay for it. When he gets sick, you pay for it. Your taxes put his kids through school. Your taxes pay the bills if he goes to jail. Your tax dollars go into his pocket when he cheats on his taxes -- meanwhile, the Chamber of Commerce crowd makes so much money off of these illegals that they can afford to donate some of it to politicians like John Boehner, Marco Rubio, Paul Ryan, Lindsey Graham and John McCain in order to get them to keep the gravy train going.

Ironically, the reason they're so desperate to ram the bill through this year is because the political landscape looks so favorable to Republicans right now. Since the filibuster is essentially dead, if the GOP adds seats in the House and takes over the Senate, suddenly the GOP wouldn't be able to use, "It was the best deal Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi would sign off on" as an excuse for signing on to a terrible bill. Additionally, both John McCain and Marco Rubio are up for reelection in 2016 and could face strong primary challenges. That means the two biggest advocates of amnesty in the Senate would both have to at least pretend that they want to "build the dang fence." and stop illegal immigration in 2015. Moreover, no legitimate contender for President on the Republican side is going to back an amnesty bill. All of them would oppose a terrible bill because the primary voters would insist on it. That means the GOP would either have to legitimately deal with the issue in 2015, which Boehner, Ryan, Rubio, McCain, Graham, etc. have no intention of doing, or they'd have to wait to see what the landscape looks like in 2017.

In other words, this whole immigration push that the GOP leadership in the House is embracing is a scam. It doesn't matter what they tell you, what they promise or how good they make it sound; immigration reform this year would be about as legitimate as a letter from a Nigerian prince.

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Reflecting on Turkey

An interesting article from http://www.ucg.org/ about Turkey's role in the Middle East. This follows this post about Valentine's DayFor a free magazine subscription or to get the book shown for free click HERE! or call 1-888-886- 8632.


Reflecting on Turkey

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Posted November 16, 2006

With part of Turkey located in Europe and part of it located in Asia, this country has long been the site where civilizations, cultures, and ideas clash. It's where East meets West, where the Christian and Muslim religions collide, and where Turks today are trying to fashion successful lives in a world of competing ideas and philosophies.

Preparing to celebrate Thanksgiving—a national day of appreciation for the country's blessings—many U.S. citizens are anticipating bountiful turkey dinners. But it's the country of Turkey—not the fowl—that now warrants our attention.
With part of Turkey located in Europe (bordering Bulgaria and Greece) and part of it located in Asia (bordering Georgia, Armenia, Iran, Iraq, and Syria), this country has long been the site where civilizations, cultures, and ideas clash. It's where East meets West, where the Christian and Muslim religions collide, and where Turks today are trying to fashion successful lives in a world of competing ideas and philosophies.
In trying to find a middle ground between conflicting messages and passions, Turkey searches for what every nation wants: prosperity, respect, and a secure future. Yet due to its geographical position, Turkey, has struggled and continues to struggle in its quest for these elusive ideals. So does every other nation in the world.
Recognizing one of the major causes of tensions in the world today, leaders from various cultural and religious backgrounds met in Turkey's largest city—Istanbul—on November 13 and "announced a United Nations initiative to resolve the conflict between the West and the Muslim world" ( The New York Times ).
These leaders "issued a framework for their effort, prepared over the past year, that singled out the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as a primary source of the deepening split.
"'No other conflict carries such a powerful symbolic and emotional charge among people far removed from the battlefield,' Kofi Annan, the United Nations secretary general, said at a news conference. 'As long as the Palestinians live under occupation, exposed to daily frustration and humiliation, and as long as Israelis are blown up in buses and in dance halls, so long will passions everywhere be inflamed'" (ibid .).
Kofi Annan's observation of the significance of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict matches what Bible prophecy long ago predicted. As God said of the end time, "it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples " (Zechariah 12:3, emphasis added). All nations and peoples are affected.
In the face of this troublesome conflict, the leaders of this most recent framework hope that their clear definition of the problem will lead to an equally clear solution. Reflecting this hope, "The host of the event, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, emphasized the symbolic importance of holding it in Istanbul, which bridges East and West and is the leading city in a predominantly Muslim country taking steps to join the European Union. Joining the European Union, he said, would 'prove that the polarization between cultures is actually artificial and contrived'" (ibid. ).
But as the Turks know, polarization isn't easily overcome. Turkey's effort to join the European Union (EU) has already been an up and down affair. Initial hopes for a speedy entrance into the Union have recently diminished with a snub from France over whether the deaths of Armenian Christians in Turkey during World War I amounted to genocide . France claims it was genocide while Turkey says it was simply war and that many Muslim Turks died as well.
This Armenian issue coupled with disagreement over the political division of Cyprus have given many Turks the perception that the EU isn't fair and that they are still being snubbed because they were on the wrong side during World War I. As a result, "Some [Turkish] polls show support for EU membership plummeting as low as 30%."
Diplomats from Europe and Turkey, however, know that each side needs the other. Turkey, as a stable, secular country in an unstable Muslim world, is critically important to the West and access to European markets is equally important to Turkey. Yet the question remains as to whether Turkey will be admitted to the EU.
Human beings and nations know instinctively that it's in our best interests to get along with each other. We just don't always know how to do it. Unfortunately, the Bible reveals that human efforts to solve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict will not succeed. As the latter part of Zechariah 12:3 notes: "all who would heave it [Jerusalem] away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it." The good news, however, is that the Bible also reveals that with God's intervention, humanity will eventually find the world peace and prosperity it has sought all along.
For something to really be thankful for, read about this wonderful future by requesting, downloading or reading online our free booklets: The Gospel of the Kingdom and The Middle East in Bible Prophecy .



Raymond Ibrahim: Confirmed, U.S. Is Chief Facilitator of Christian Persecution

A very interesting post from www.jihadwatch.org about the U.S. role in Muslim persecution of Christians around the world. This follows this post about the blasphemy law in Pakistan being used against non-Muslims. This follows this article about American energy independence and preventing money from going to hostile countries. For more about what you can do to get more involved click here and you can read two very interesting books HERE.


Raymond Ibrahim: Confirmed, U.S. Is Chief Facilitator of Christian Persecution

By       
Obamadownturn
[NRO via RaymondIbrahim.com]
Prominent indicators confirm that the U.S. is the chief facilitator of the persecution of Christians around the world today.
According to the recently released 2014 World Watch List, which ranks the 50 nations where Christians are most persecuted, Syria is the third worst nation in the world in which to be Christian, Iraq is fourth, Afghanistan fifth, and Libya 13th. All four countries receive the strongest designation, “extreme persecution” (other designations are “severe,” “moderate,” and “sparse” persecution).
Aside from being so closely and harshly ranked, these four nations have something else in common: heavy U.S. involvement. Three—Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya—were “liberated” thanks to U.S. forces, while in the fourth, Syria, the U.S. is actively sponsoring “freedom fighters” against the regime, many of whom would be better labeled “terrorists.”
The Syrian situation alone indicts U.S. foreign policy. According to Reuters:
Open Doors, a non-denominational group supporting persecuted Christians worldwide, said on Wednesday it had documented 2,123 “martyr” killings, compared with 1,201 in 2012. There were 1,213 such deaths in Syria alone last year, it said. “This is a very minimal count based on what has been reported in the media and we can confirm,” said Frans Veerman, head of research for Open Doors. Estimates by other Christian groups put the annual figure as high as 8,000.
While most Americans are shielded from the true nature of the war by the U.S. media’s reluctance to report on it, Arabic media, websites, and activists daily report and document atrocity after atrocity—beheadings and bombed churches, Christians slaughtered for refusing to convert to Islam, and countless abducted for ransom or rape—at the hands of those whom the U.S. supports.
It’s enough to point out that “the largest massacre of Christians in Syria,” to quote a top religious leader, was left wholly unreported by any major U.S. news network.
At any rate, the statistics speak for themselves: Syria, which used to be religiously tolerant, is now, in the context of the United States’ trying to bring “democracy” to it, the third worst country in the world in terms of “extreme persecution” of Christians.
The Blaze reports that Dr. David Curry, president of Open Doors,
charged that the Obama administration has essentially declined to make the protection of religious minorities a priority . . . “There are many instances where the vacuum of leadership and spokesmanship has created a real problem,” said the human rights leader. “I would say that every significant data point on this year’s ‘2014 Watch List’ is worse—and I think a factor in it is a lack of leadership from Western governments including . . . the U.S. in terms of religious freedom.”
But it’s worse than that. Far from taking any action or providing leadership—or simply ceasing to support the terrorists responsible—the Obama administration recently tried to go to war with Syria on behalf of the “freedom fighters,” amazingly, in the name of “human rights” (Apparently the unsubstantiated rumor that Assad massacred people is enough for the U.S. to go to war, but the ongoing and well-documented massacres of Christians and other civilians at the hands of the opposition is not enough for the U.S. to stop supporting them.)
What’s worse, even the most misinformed mainstream-media-watching American today knows that the so-called “Arab Spring,” which was hailed to justify U.S. support for “rebels” of all stripes—in Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood (which months ago destroyed some 80 churches); in Libya, al-Qaeda, which has turned Benghazi into a terror zone; and now the “freedom fighters” in Syria—is not what it was touted to be.
In other words, at this point, whenever the U.S. intervenes in an Islamic nation, Islamists come to power. This is well demonstrated by the other three nations to which the U.S. brought “democracy” and where Christian minorities suffer “extreme persecution”:
Surely a common theme emerges here: Where the U.S. works to oust secular autocrats, the quality of life for Christians and other minorities takes a major nosedive. Under Saddam, Qaddafi, and Assad, Christians and their churches were largely protected… Keep reading