Before we got to the links, I wanted to make a quick note on a few of the political happenings this week.
It was tremendously nostalgic to watch this administrations last state of the union address. It seems so long ago that I was in high school, filling out my ballot one afternoon, proud to vote for such a great conservative like George W. Bush. Even after 9/11, I was with this president – I drove to the local anti-war protest and heckled the protesters. I was assured of this man’s conservatism in every single state of the union, where he praised free markets, individual rights, small government and life.
In time, Bush’s words have grown quite sour. Preaching the doctrine of Reagan, and performing that of FDR and LBJ has led this country’s conservative movement to a level of hypocrisy unprecedented. I could not help be reminded of this during the most recent state of the union, before announcing massive spending increases, continuation of a Wilsonian foreign policy, increased welfare programs, increasing the federal government’s role in education, he said this:
In the work ahead, we must be guided by the philosophy that made our nation great. As Americans, we believe in the power of individuals to determine their destiny and shape the course of history. We believe that the most reliable guide for our country is the collective wisdom of ordinary citizens. And so in all we do, we must trust in the ability of free peoples to make wise decisions, and empower them to improve their lives for their futures. To build a prosperous future, we must trust people with their own money and empower them to grow our economy.
What is also tremendously sad, is that many people have been led to believe that the inherently left-wing philosophy of this administration and many of the candidates is even moderately conservative. Aside from the lip service, it is not. The fact that, for example, Mitt Romney can claim with a straight face that his government mandated healthcare plan is “free-market” is the kind of double-speak that made Orwell famous.
Ron Paul Likely Done
This leads into a sad reality for the Republican party. While Ron Paul is obviously more libertarian than republican (in this new modern way of the party), his presence has been pulling the major candidates to the right, back towards their party’s former values. I believe that Paul saw his last debate this week. Though he will likely stay in the race for some time after super-Tuesday, McCain will wrap up the nomination by then, and continued debate will be unimportant to the people.
Churchy-smurchy
From WashingtonTimes.com: “Malaysian authorities confiscated Christian children’s books, claiming the illustrations of prophets such as Moses and Abraham violate Islamic Shariah law.
Packer Interview On the State of Anglicism
Poly-ticks
Unintended Consequences: Why the A.D.A. has often hurt people with disabilities and other examples.
You may also be interested in:
Pawlenty is a really likable Christian who can bring in the evangelical vote while not pushing away the moderate vote. McCain would be nuts to pick Huck over Pawlenty. Huck gives McCain the Southern vote, but that’s something McCain already has over Clinton and Obama. What he needs is the Northern vote, which Pawlenty will help bring.
Jew, Dr. Dobson has never once done something that I strongly disagreed with, and he has kept himself above reproach his whole time at Focus on the Family. Yes, he had two co-hosts of his radio show have affairs, but that just proves that Christians can sin, nothing else. But for the grace of God, there go we all.
gurr8 is obviously ignorant regarding FotF. Calling that wonderful group a “cult” is one of the most low and Satanic things I’ve ever heard. They train our youth to be good Christians, they train parents to be godly fathers and mothers, and they provide many services to the downtrodden in our society. Gurr8 knows not of what he judges so harshly.
This made me lol
I wondered when someone would catch that.
So, at last night’s Minnesota caucus, Ron Paul won my precinct “room.”
Paul – 13 votes
Romney – 12
Huck – 10
McCain – 5
And what surprised me the most was almost all of the Paul voters were elderly folks. There was like two young guys and all of these old people with Paul stickers. Interesting contrast. However, when it came to electing delegates, the Paul people didn’t get voted in. This was primarily because most of the elderly left after the straw vote.
The turnout for Republican caucuses in Minnesota was record-breaking, the organizers had never seen so many people. So that was encouraging, especially when the media claims that Repubs are disinterested and disheartened.
Arg! Curse those old people and their early bedtimes!
Fortunately the opposite happened most other places – Ron Paul got a lot more delegates than his vote totals.
Also Darius, you should not be surprised. Many in my Ron Paul meetup group are older as well. This is because these people remember what conservative used to be before the left-wing invaded the GOP and created the neo-conservative movement.
Calling that wonderful group a “cult” is one of the most low and Satanic things I’ve ever heard.
Now you may have a point with the “low” comment (considering your obvious respect for the group)…but Satanic? C’mon, Darius. Unless you were practicing the extremes of hyperbole, that’s a pretty ignorant comment. Disagreeing with a popular Christian group does not equal “Satanic”.
Personally, FOTF drives me bonkers. Once Dobson started getting political and acting more like a Rush Limbaugh than the original intention of the group, I stopped listening and caring. Besides, I’m pretty sure the “cult” comment by gurr8 was meant as a derogatory statement regarding their size and status, and not “literally” calling them a cult.
I knew I should clarify what I meant by “Satanic.” What I meant was that it is of the devil to attribute non-Christian behavior to a very godly man and organization. Scripture clearly spells this out. Calling Dobson’s character into question is the lowest of low, and typical of gurr8′s general ignorance of most things south of Canada. The man has done nothing but served mankind and via his witness and work, brought millions to Christ or at least closer to Christ. I definitely respect Dobson and FOTF about as much as I respect any man under the sun. Politically-speaking, yeah, at times it would be nice if Dobson refrained from as much political involvement. At the same time, why can’t he help inform Christians on moral issues such as politics?
1.James Dobson dedicated an entire program to endorsing Bush’s “case” for war.
2. His co-host embarrassed him and the entire FOTF cult by having a public affair.
Apparently Dobson has an ability to judge a man’s character that we can all trust!
We should expect as much from a man with no character.
Does even one word of that judgmental drivel of a comment sound like something a Christian (perhaps I’m assuming too much) should say about another GODLY Christian??????
“Does even one word of that judgmental drivel of a comment sound like something a Christian (perhaps I’m assuming too much) should say about another GODLY Christian??????”
Maybe not. But wherein thou judgest another thou condemnest thyself. You’ve written similar things about Christians. Pat Robertson comes to mind.
Pat Robertson is someone who has repeatedly said and done un-Christian things. Are we not allowed to differentiate now?
“Are you not to judge those inside [the church]?”
Or are you saying that all Christians are equal and either should not be judged at all or all should be judged?
We are called to judge behavior and words, not salvation. So I don’t know if Pat Robertson will be in heaven… I would guess that he will be. But I do know that for all the good he does, he has also brought shame on the Church as well.
I can’t say the same thing about Dobson; I’ve never seen him do anything to bring the Church into disrepute (beyond defending the gospel of Christ, that is). And I am certain from gurr8′s ignorant statement that he hasn’t either.
Only Satan dwells in statements like gurr8′s above, which condemned a man with no evidence and no proof, yet judged him anyway. God is not honored by gossip and slander.
“Or are you saying that all Christians are equal and either should not be judged at all or all should be judged?”
No. I’m saying that it is no more your place to judge Robertson than it is for gurr8 to criticize Dobson. And all the scripture and reasoning you use to justify your criticism of him is meaningless, because it is being used to back up your personal opinion. Plus, you take that verse about judgment within the church completely out of context.
Darius, the passage you cites is declaring that it is our job to judge those within the church and God’s job for those outside. This conforms to many new testament passages about testing teachers and being weary of false teachers.
Colin, that is what I said.
Chris, pray tell how I take it out of context. Dobson=within the Church. Robertson=within the Church.
Sorry Darius, I missed that.
Gotcha Colin.
What I’m saying is that we SHOULD judge Dobson, Robertson, Graham, etc. ON THEIR FRUIT. But what gurr8 did was judge Dobson on someone else’s fruit or even perhaps a (slight) misstep in judgment. Judged on his own fruit ONLY, Dobson is clean and, assuming something isn’t hidden from us, will hear “Well done, good and faithful servant” when he leaves this earth.
Now, contrast that to Robertson or Hinn or Jesse Jackson (wide spectrum, I know)… Robertson has done a lot of good, but he has also brought some levels of disrepute to the Church. Hinn and Jackson… well, their travails are myriad and obvious. We have to hold them account to their failings (though Jackson and Hinn are so far outside of the Church as to make that difficult). If Dobson were to screw up, then he should be held accountable.
“Darius, the passage you cites is declaring that it is our job to judge those within the church and God’s job for those outside. This conforms to many new testament passages about testing teachers and being weary of false teachers.”
The scripture Darius quoted is 1 Corinthians 5:12.
12For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within?
Paul’s question suggests that he was addressing the church’s question about how they should deal with a particular situation within the church, namely some perverted guy who was involved in unholy relations with his father’s wife. But here is the verse in it’s central context.
11But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolator, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.
12For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within?
13But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.
The type of judgment mentioned here is excommunication, and it is used in reference to those who are unapologetically involved in gross moral failure. To apply this verse to Pat Robertson or Mr. Dobson, for that matter, would be quite a stretch. Judging those within does not involve personal criticism on the internet.
There is a principle here that we can apply in other situations, but we have to be careful how they are applied. Keep in mind that Paul was writing to one church, and he was reluctantly addressing the affairs within that local body. I say reluctantly because of the first question he poses in verse 12.
If we are always pointing the finger at this one or that, we are heaping judgment upon ourselves. I know because I have been there. I have done it. I know that its not my place to judge everyone – only those “within” my sphere of influence with whom I have a personal relationship. In these cases we should be in a position such that we would be able to restore the individual in due time, under the circumstances.
If we are talking false teachers and false prophets, that is quite another matter and is dealt with differently.
Benny Hinn=false teacher
Darius, I tend to agree with you about Dobson. I have great respect for him. I’m a little uncomfortable with some of the language you use to defend him, though. He’s not the second coming of Jesus. He’s just a man. It isn’t a sin to have strong disagreements with Dobson.
I believe gurr8 made a legitimate point when he called into question Dobson’s judge of character. If Dobson has exhibited a pattern of misjudging people (and I’m not claiming he has) then we should be wary of any further endorsements he makes. The two examples gurr8 brought up should be examined to see if Dobson really did misjudge their character. That’s a legitimate point to make, and we should grant that to gurr8, even though we disagree with his meanspirited jab at Dobson’s character.
I don’t mind saying he perhaps made a misjudgment in character. Who hasn’t misjudged someone’s character? People are fallen, they mess up, and we can’t always foresee that (though I’m not sure how the radio program about the Iraq war fits into this). Gurr8 went beyond this by saying that Dobson had no character. That was disgusting and what I take issue with primarily. I don’t think Dobson is Jesus or even Paul. But in today’s world, I will honor the men who actually honor God. And Dobson is one of those. When we have a world rife with Swaggarts, Robertsons, Hinns, Osteens, and many more, the few who actually lead a godly public life are rare and should be praised as examples by which we should live.
Wow, here is Romney’s CPAC speech… very solid. So sad to see him go and McCain to win. McCain doesn’t have half the principles of Romney.
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_8196972?source=rss