A number of critics of the war in Iraq have criticized the Pentagon’s “use of deception and disinformation against enemies, real or imagined, abroad.” The question is, In a time of war, should governments always tell the truth to the enemy? The architects of the D-Day invasion, for example, used deception to mislead the Nazis. Was this wrong? Is wearing camouflage, a form of deception, unethical? [...]
“World records are being smashed by men who have been taking anabolic hormones [steroids]. Some athletes see them as a new secret weapon. . . . It’s the hottest–and quietest–argument in sports today.” A 2004 editorial about Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi, and breaking baseball’s cherished records with the help of a little juice, right? Wrong! This opening paragraph a [...]
The Ghost of Antonio Gramsci By Gary DeMar For a long time American Vision has been calling on Christians to understand that social change comes from the bottom up, not the top down. This does not mean that the top should be ignored. There were converts in “Caesar’s household” (Phil. 4:22). Political involvement is God-ordained and “ministerial” (Rom. 13:1, 4), not re [...]
Leftist pundits continue to raise fears about a Taliban-type Christian theocracy. The evangelical and moral vote scared the daylights out of a cabal of frenzied popping jays who have had a near monopoly on the flow of editorial comment over the last 20 years. There’s even a “theocracy watch” website for those who care about such things. Maureen Dowd, Garry Wills, Bill Moyers, and [...]
Just what we need, another prominent evangelical making it theologically easier for Christians not to get involved in the political process. Franklin Graham begins his article on “Christians must focus on God, not politics” with the obligatory acknowledgment that he has “always used whatever influence and platform [he] had to urge everyone to vote.” Then comes the inevitabl [...]
Most of us don’t remember that Arlen Specter was considering a run for the presidency in 1995.[1] Specter ran for president because he didn’t like the “exclusionary attitudes” of Christian conservatives, especially their pro-life agenda. He believed then, like he believes now, that the Republican Party is “so captive to the demands of the intolerant right that we end up re-electing a president on [...]
On Thursday, September 24, 1789, the First House of Representatives voted to recommend—in its exact wording—the First Amendment of the newly drafted Constitution to the states for ratification. The next day, Congressman Elias Boudinot from New Jersey proposed that the House and Senate jointly request of President Washington to proclaim a day of thanksgiving for “the many signal favors of Almighty [...]
Maryland public school students are in a rude historical awakening this Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving means thanking anyone or anything except God. I suppose that thanking the devil would pass Public School muster as long as the kiddies didn’t ask about his origin since such an inquiry might lead them back to God. These public school children, who are being denied the right and historical reality of [...]
One of the more pleasurable parts of what I do at American Vision is traveling around the country and meeting people who are working out the implications of the gospel and the kingdom of God. It’s heartening to hear how the ministry of American Vision is having an impact. The most rewarding experiences I have is meeting with young people who are part of the growing Christian private, church, and h [...]
Chantal Stepney is a senior at the University of Georgia. An article she wrote appeared in the November 16, 2004, issue of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She takes issue with anti-Bush types on campus who want to flee America for a better life in Canada where they can get “free health care.” Some of her friends thought that finding a piece of land in Namibia to start a family in Afr [...]
Similar counsel was given to Michael Corleone from his father in the Godfather saga. It turned out to be very good advice. It looks like Arlen Specter is going to get the chairmanship of the Senate Judiciary Committee. This is not as bad as it seems. Specter got the behind-closed-door message that his pro-abortion obstructionist philosophy would not be tolerated. Having a bad guy as chairman can h [...]
Those familiar with recent history will remember that one of the attack groups that got Chief Justice Roy Moore removed from office was the Southern Poverty Law Center located in Montgomery, Alabama. Richard Cohen, a lawyer for the SPLC, led the charge against Moore. After their success in getting Moore removed, the SPLC, the ACLU, and Americans United for Separation of Church and State sued the s [...]
Garrison Keillor, the soft-spoken, folksy host of “A Prairie Home Companion,” has shown his dark side with comments he made during a speech at Chicago’s Rockefeller Memorial Chapel and during his radio monologue the Saturday after the election. According to a transcript of the show, Keillor said, “I am now the chairman of a national campaign to pass a constitutional amendment to take the rig [...]
The homosexual community is seeing red. Former President Clinton is blaming Kerry’s loss on the homosexual marriage issue. After an analysis of the vote in Pennsylvania, I’ve concluded that Bush would have won the Keystone state if Arlen Specter’s conservative primary opponent had been on the ballot. Many pro-life and anti-homosexual marriage voters did not turn out to vote becau [...]
Now that moral issues have hit the liberal Left like a ton of red bricks, they are trying to figure out how to extricate themselves from the weight of the pile. They are being counseled to talk about values. Good enough. But whose values? What values? Unless they change their views on homosexuality and abortion, to name only two value-laden issues, they can only talk about values. Those on the Lef [...]
Fallout from the election continues. Garry Wills, author of numerous books and articles on America’s cultural mood, has entered the debate over what went wrong when most voting Americans rejected John Kerry and elected George Bush. Here’s how Wills states it in his New York Times article “The Day the Enlightenment Went Out” (Nov. 4, 2004): “Can a people that believes more fervently in the Virgin B [...]
One distraught voter drove to Ground Zero and killed himself after he learned that John Kerry had lost the election. He was only 25. It’s a shame that government has become a god to so many. The disillusionment that comes when your god turns out to be a well-constructed fiction can be devastating. While no editorial writers have done themselves in over the election results, many of them are [...]
In yesterday’s web article, I issued a call to action to put the brakes on Arlen Spector’s elevation to the head of the Judiciary Committee. Apparently others had the same idea. Spector has backed off his comments, even denying that he ever said them. There is a new day in Washington as the media pundits are falling all over themselves trying to figure out the “values vote.&rdquo [...]
Surveys conducted after the election show that morality topped the list of important issues that brought voters to the polls. This astounded the press in England. Europe no longer has a moral center. In time, if population trends continue, Eurabia will be a reality in 30 years. Islam, as twisted a religion as it is when practiced by its extreme elements, believes in moral absolutes. Muslims have a [...]
As I write this, Ohio, Nevada, and New Mexico are still too close to call, at least that’s what the news guys tell us and the Democrats pray is true. The numbers are against John Kerry. He should concede, walk away with dignity, and save the country another agonizing post-election fiasco. My blood pressure can’t take it. Of course, the networks love it. They want to hold everyone in su [...]
